Filming Meeting

Below is a recreated video of the discussions we had during our meeting with George our actor.

In the meeting we realized that getting a timetable to film that all of us could adhere to would be challenging, especially due to our reliance on the weather. 

Every two weeks on a Tuesday and Wednesday all four of us are free. We have also discussed the possibility of asking if we can take a few periods of other lessons off for filming (for example Friday, when both Connie and Lucy are free but me and George are not). Our current issue is whether our timetable will match the weather; for example, we'd need there to be sunny weather for our car scenes with George, and this will be where we'll have to adapt and have some leniency with when we shoot. 

Vlog 4

Costumes

The costumes for our music video aren't going to be a focus for the viewers and so we're planning to keep them discreet. We are using them to represent stereotypical male and female teenage characters and the drawings below show our rough ideas. They aren't striking and so allow the focus to be on the characters themselves, and the emotions they're trying to portray. 

Connie will have several costume changes; we'd like her to be wearing different clothes in each lip syncing location, as this will hopefully suggest the idea of time passing. 

We also plan to subtly change her clothing depending on whether she's alone or with her partner. When she's alone the clothing will be more suited for colder conditions (i.e. big jumpers and jackets or woolly hats etc), and when she's with her partner her clothing will be less. This subtly emphasizes her loneliness in her scenes without the partner as it show's the audience she lacks the warmth she had when she was with her partner; however, this will be minimal as we don't intend for it to be distracting.

Below is one of our initial sketches showing our ideas for costume design in the music video. 

Lip Sync Practice

For our music video, Connie will have to lip sync in several scenes. In order to make the lip syncing appear genuine we had some practice sessions (Lucy and I also took part to make Connie feel less pressure). 

We discovered that actually singing the lyrics rather than mouthing them looks much more realistic (from around 1:20 Connie does her best lip syncing), and also that subtle facial expressions are much more effective in conveying true emotions (more obvious, and over the top movements look unprofessional and less believable).

Location Research

Here we're looking at some potential locations for our music video. 

In the video above we're at Meadfoot (the beach) in the weather conditions we want for our beach scenes, a very grey and miserable backdrop - to emphasise our characters loneliness and negative emotions. Unfortunately as the tide was in we had very little room to do test shots; however, it gave us a good indication of what our beach scenes will look like. 

We also went to Dawlish Warren (see below) to see if the beach there would be more effective, due to its more remote location. In terms of practicality however, Meadfoot would be much easier for filming, so, as our filming is weather dependant, we will have to play it by ear as to which location we use. We'll look at forecast for both Dawlish Warren and Meadfoot and see which one provides us with the maximum time in the weather conditions that fits all our schedules.

We also went to two woodland locations, the one featured in the video above (Daddyhole Plain) and also a woodland path in Highweek village (see below). Like Meadfoot, Daddyhole Plain's benefit is its accessibility; however, the Highweek woodland path fits our vision more. The path also leads to a graveyard which is perfect for our final scene and so we've chosen the Highweek woodland path to shoot our wood scenes (and graveyard scenes) as, despite it taking more effort to get to, it will provide more aesthetically pleasing footage. 

In terms of the house scenes, we've chosen Connie's house due to it being near the school which will ease the pressure of time constraints. Her lounge's pastel pink walls also provide a warm and atmosphere that will be desirable for our scenes as we want them to appear cosy and intimate.

Storyboard

Story Boarding (Vlog 3)

Today we did some further planning towards our storyboard; focusing a lot more on the specific timings and how we will use our locations and shot styles to match the changing tone of the song. 

We feel it will be near on impossible  to create  a shot for shot storyboard because our music video is weather dependant in places, and obviously, even though we can have an idea of what we'd like, shots like this will be unpredictable. However, we are nearly there in terms of our basic storyboard of shots and timings.

Following on from this lesson, I created much more detailed storyboards. The image on the left shows this progression. The storyboard at the top of the picture is our original: a very basic plan of timings and locations. Below this is the more detailed storyboard (however, in the image it is unfinished as only one shot has a drawing). The descriptions are more detailed, and the shots are more specific. For example, in the original storyboard, the first box says: 'Beach 6secs' whereas the second storyboard this is split into two boxes, with two different beach shots - the first shot being 0.00-0.04 and the second being 0.04-0.06.
This improved storyboard will give our filming more structure; however, there is still the potential for changes due to our reliance on the weather.

Pathetic Fallacy in Music Videos

Pathetic Fallacy (where the weather is used to represent the emotions and powers at be within a scene) is commonly used within literature and film. To show positive emotions, the weather is often warm and inviting (i.e. the sun is shining). For negative emotions bad weather such as rain and cloud is used; the different weather creates very different imagery, with the grey of the clouds often reflecting loneliness.

Below is an example from the film The Matrix. On the left the rain is used to show the anger of the antagonist and the dyer situation that the protagonist faces. Whereas on the right the sun rising shows hope; the warm orange tones on the characters faces gives a sense of happiness and better things to come.

In our music video we intend to use the weather to show contrasting emotions. When the girl is alone a grey pallet will be used (i.e. cloudy and rainy weather), emphasizing her sadness; whereas for the flashbacks of happy memories we'll use the low autumn/winter sun to create a sense of warmth and companionship. 

A music video that does something similar to this is Shiver by Lucy Rose (see below). The beach scenes are similar to the images we wish to create to address our girls loneliness, and the flashbacks (which in this are on an old fashioned camera) have warmer colors, showing the happiness there once was.

Oh Wonder Case Study

Oh Wonder is a London based duo, new to the music industry scene. The pair (Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West) began releasing songs in 2014, and their debt album is self-titled.

Their music genre is alternative pop, with modern and chilled electric ballads being a consistent sound throughout. The balance between the two unique voices is the forefront of the music, and so every song has a very emotive feeling. Despite each song being different, the duos unique style features in every song and so it is somewhat easy for each song to flow into the next. 

Over the past year the pair tried a new business model and released a new song every month onto their SoundCloud account before then releasing all twelve songs in an album in September. This ambitious move proved highly successful with most songs having millions of views on their account, and just emphasises how this young pair are trying new and unique ideas within the music industry with both their sound and their promotion.

Audience Research

I recently completed a SurveyMonkey survey to gain feedback of how different ages respond to the song and also the groups concept. By asking a variety of ages it allowed me to see if our initial target audience (teens to young adults) was the best audience to focus on and also just see any general improvements to our initial concept.

You can view (or complete) the survey here:
  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6GK6MRD

Results:

Q2.

“Love and heartbreak”

“Someone is torn between their head and their heart. The singer is conflicted as to what to do, they obviously love the person, but also get hurt”

“Someone trying to shake off some bad feelings, but finding it hard to do so and being confused as they love the person but being in a relationship with them is tough.”

“love, pain, and relationship issues; a classic love song”

“Love and hurt”

“Someone is torn as to whether they should leave their lover. They love the person but also suffer pain from the relationship”

“The timeless classic of love and heartbreak.”

“It's a song about the troubles of a relationship. In terms of characters, it could be any two people at any age as being in love and the trials and tribulations of this are relatable to everyone. I don't particularly like the sound of the person the singer is singing about”

“I think it's about two lovers who are having trouble, with the singer of the song reflecting on how tough it is for him/her”

“A song about relationships and they can be hard”

“It's about love and heartbreak.”

“I think the lyrics show a theme of heart break and emotional pain. The character is obviously someone who's been unlucky in love and been hurt by their partner. Although they still love them they can't carry on being hurt this way or avoid thinking about the past, and so they've decided to end it for their own good.”

“The person singing has been in a relationship where the other person has cheated on them. Leaving them in a mess as they still love the but know in their mind that they shouldnt. They seem torn between what their heart wants to do and what their mind says they should do.”

“Love, a break-up, letting someone go”

“It sounds like a song about breakup and how someone gets hurt. Sounds like the singer cant move on from the situation, and just ends up getting hurt each time they get close. Sounds like the singer was betrayed and cant move on from that. But at the end sounds like he cant stop loving the other person, no matter how much they hurt him”

Q3.

“Very chilled, more up-beat than expected, makes me feel happier than the initial lyrics would suggest”

“It makes me dislike the person for causing the girl pain because the song presents an image of innocence and loss”

“The changes in sound of the song (i.e. quiet at some points and louder and faster in others) is good in representing the confused and changing emotions of the girl”

“Quite upbeat, different to what I expected!”

“Can hear the pain in her voice. Gentle sounds are easy to listen to.”

“Quite up-beat! voice sounds very innocent, makes me want to stand up for her.”

“Very easy on the ears. Very pure voices, makes me relate to and feel sad for the victim”

“Very easy listening, it's relaxing.”

“The track is lighter than i expected, if I was unaware of the lyrics I wouldn't think it was about heartbreak, which is interesting.”

“Quite upbeat! I'm confused as to whether I should feel happy or sad”

“The song is more upbeat than I first thought it would be; it isn't too slow and so it isn't overwhelmed by sadness like the lyrics alone suggest.”

“Due to the lyrics I thought the song would make me feel sad and reminiscent but I think its actually quite acoustically upbeat for a song about love. To me it generates optimistic emotions, like shes trying to move forward and is quite content with the idea of it if it means she can be pain free. It makes you feel quite mentally strong, independent, and confident as if you can finally take charge of your life and remove all the bad parts so you can be care free.”

“Up-beat even though there's a sad theme, makes me resentful of the person it's about.”

“The song sounds upbeat, the tune is more upbeat than the lyrics suggest. It sounds like a difficult battle to move one from the situation”

Q4.

“Good idea, I think your idea of using different locations and weather to represent different emotions will be effective”

“The twist has made me completely change my view on the boy, who i initially thought of as antagonistic. It changes the whole meaning of the song, clever”

“Good idea, can see it working well with this song”

“Nice ending, wasn't expecting it and makes me change my view on the whole song. I picture a car at some point, don't know how it'd be possible but could be nice as a happy flashback with the wind blowing in their hair etc!”

“Make sure the two people acting in it are good, because you don't want to make the video come across tacky and cheesy because the music doesn't fit with that! But good idea!”

“I like the concept. Have fun filming in the rain!!”

“I like the ending! And the different locations sound good. Having her isolated will show her loneliness. Good pathetic fallacy”

“I wasn't expecting the partner to have died. This makes the song much more powerful and makes me reflect on my first ideas! Never judge a book by it's cover I guess! It makes the video different from generic love stories”

“Her walking etc will work well with the soundtrack as its upbeat-ness suggests movement. Good twist, makes me feel bad for initially misjudging the person she's singing about, changes the whole meaning of the lyrics”

“The happy and sad memories will work well with the music. Clever twist at the end!”

“I like the idea, I feel the ups and downs of the music will match the different emotions of different scenes. It mentions a car a lot, could you use a car in filming somehow?”

“I like the concept of flashing back to the happy/sad memories of the relationship as the lyrics suggest a sense of nostalgia, but I dont think the beginning should be walking. I imagine shes driving seeing as it's in the first line and is also a symbol of moving foward and leaving the past behind you. I like the idea of the isolated locations, for example i imagine shes on a long empty road, maybe bad things are happening around her but she carries on driving (in a cool car with no roof) with the wind in her hair and the sun in her eyes as shes heading for a brighter future and not looking back.”

“Good,fast moving plan. I like the twist at the end, adds depth to the songs meaning and makes you question initially formulated opinions.”

“Really good idea. Very dramatic. I like the idea of the different weather for the different scenes”

Vlog 2

Indie-Pop Music Video Research

Vlog

Drive Pitch Presentation

'Drive' Music Video Pitch

Kanye West Case Study

Kanye West

Kanye West, also referred to as Yeezus, is one of the most successful artists of all time having sold over 21 million albums and 100 million digital downloads. In this blog I'll be looking into what has caused his large success.

After dropping out of Chicago State University to pursue his dream of becoming a producer and rapper in 1998, it took a few years for Kanye to establish himself on the music scene, only doing minor producing work (for example Beanie Sigel's song, The Truth). However, in 2001 Kanye produced 6 songs for Jay-Z's album Blueprint and it was this that set Kanye going, with him being signed to Roc-A-Fella Records by Jay-Z and Damon Dash the following year. 

In 2003 we saw the first of many rants that would occur in Kanye's career, after he defended himself as a rapper and not just a producer. And following on from this he released his first album The College Dropout in 2004. It debuted #2 in the charts and with bit hits such as Jesus Walks and All Falls Down, Kanye became a well known as a hip-hop artist in the music industry. However, he continued to produce and in the same year founded G.O.O.D. Music with Common & John Legend being the first 2 artists signed.

His following 3 albums: Late Registration, Graduation and 808s and Heartbreak were all successful, furthering his achievement in the music industry; however, following this Kanye seemed to intensify his sound. These past four albums, though part of the rap genre, had a much pop-ier sound than his next solo album Yeezus, which featured very little of this up-beat style. This slight tweak in style led to the album achieving number one in over 40 countries and is representative of the Kanye West we see currently; the parallel being the much more intense sound showing a man happy to cause controversy and with strong views.

Throughout his career he has caused controversy with strong views in both the music industry and on global issues: two examples being when he claimed "George Bush doesn't care about black people"

Or when he stormed the stage at the 2009 VMA's claiming Beyonce should have won the award not Taylor Swift. And during this years VMA's he's announced he'll run for presidency in the 2020 elections, furthering fuelling his large egotistical nature.

He has always had a fiery relationship with the media, lashing out at paparazzi on several occasions. But despite all his outbursts, which one would argue could end a career, Kanye has utilized them to get himself noticed, in a way that has allowed for huge success.

Fashion has a large influence on Kanye's career. He has no particular style that he adheres to; however, he usually avoids the stereotypical rapper attire of sleeveless shirts and jeans. For example, in Runaway he's sporting a tux, whereas in Mercy he's in much darker clothing.

What is noticeable though is, as his music has subtly changed so has his styling, with his clothing moving from less hip-hop (for example the 'shutter shade' sunglasses he made infamous in Stronger) to more unique, somewhat 'rough and ready' attire.

In total Kanye West has won 89 awards (21 of these being from the Grammy's) and had 352 nominations. Though not always popular for his seemingly spontaneous outbursts, his music continues to receive massive praise, with him now one of the most influential music artists of our time.

Such is the influence of Kanye that you can see many artists pick up traits from his successful career. In fact, many big hits of recent times have either been produced by Kanye or have been inspired by Kanye in some way (E.g. Beyonce, The Game, Ludacris, John Legend, Jay-Z etc).

Music Video Styles and Representations

Representation of solo females:

Crazy in Love - Beyonce
Adheres to common stereotypes. It's very sexual, attempting to attract the 'male gaze'. She is the focus; it's an exhibition of her, and no one else. She is sexual, but still maintains a sense of dominance. There are lots of close ups of body parts, once more presenting her somewhat objectively; however, she maintains control.

Representation of solo males:

Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
A romantic male lead. Somewhat metrosexual, more intimate and emotional (other genres, e.g. rap, show more stereotypically masculine depictions). Despite Ed being less dominant, he still takes the lead. There is even some, though less obvious, attempt at attracting the female gaze.

Representation of boy groups:

Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way
The group trys to appear desirable to (perhaps) their main target audience of teens; i.e. the teen heart throb idea. They have a variety of looks, from the 'boy next door' to the 'ordinary Joe' to relate to more people, and seem very manufactured. They is lots of harmonization, and dance routines. It is very much a performance to the camera, and with the adoring fans in the background it seems to be trying to enhance the prophecy of how great they are.

Representation of girl groups:

All Saints - Black Coffee
There is much less focus on attracting the male gaze than in Beyonce's video, though it is still present. Like the boy group they too harmonize, however, there are many more individual sections. 

Representation of male bands:

Muse - Mercy
The video has more of a story line than the boy group, and there is a much greater emphasis on the band and music rather than individuals and their appeal. 

Representation of female bands:

Hole - Celebrity Skin
There is intensity throughout the performance and through the camerawork. Their attitude is almost challenging the viewers, and there is an equal focus on the women but also their instrument playing.