Pitch For Ideas

Health and Safety Evidence

This table below shows of any potential hazards that could occur when filming, and how we can help to prevent them

Magazine Advert Planning

Like the magazine adverts for some of the artist I looked at in my research, our advert will be based primarily on the album covers that we created before. Like the album covers, we have chosen to focus on the scenery and establishing shots of the countryside in the adverts, keeping the theme the same across the advert, digipak, and music video.

In the design above , the title of the advert will feature the same font as the album, this time however it will be white font on a black background. With the extended page as a result of the advert, the album image will be added to, with it fading to an image of the night sky. This will be the background for the advert title. As well as the artist name and album name, the advert will include a brief mention of some of the songs included in the album, a quote from an individual or a magazine about the album, and the text 'Out Now' in bold at the bottom of the advert.

The design on the left features an extended image of the country lane. In this image, the sky (cloudy, overcast) is shown. This section of sky will be the background for the title. The title will be black text in contrast to the white sky.
The advert will include a list of several songs from the album, as well as a quote from an individual or magazine. The text 'Out Now' will be in bold on the left of the advert.

Digipak Plan

The following are some sketches for the album digipak designs. Both designs feature scenery that will relate to the music videos for our song. Based on the previous digipaks that we analysed from our research, we came to the conclusion that the digipak should meet these criteria:

• A scenic background, focused on hills or another prominent countryside landmark OR A simple cartoon, with a predominantly white (or other solid colour) background, and colourful sketches in the centre.
• The artist name and album name should be written clearly at either the top or the bottom (or both) of the album cover.
• The writing should be all caps, with a simple, sans-serif font that is easy to read AND easy to recognise.
• The writing should be either black (with a white background) or white (with a black background).
• The cover may feature the artist (if it's not a cartoon). If it does, then they should be the key focus of the image.
• The song list on the back of the digipak should be in a plain, simple font, similar to that of the title.
• The background of the back of the digipak should follow the theme of the front cover, if not a continuation of the same image.
• The back cover should feature an image of the artist (Or the label logo).
• The disk should feature the artist and album name in a font similar to the cover.
• The disk should be black, white, or feature the image/cartoon that is seen on the cover.
• Song lyrics should be printed on a booklet included in the digipak that features a similar image to the cover.
• Song lyrics should be in a clear, black or white font, contrasting the colour of the booklet.

This design features the performer on a country road. There are trees and bushes on either side. As a result, the main colour will be green, with the grey of the road running through the centre of the cover. The performer will be wearing a grey hoodie and jeans, similar to the costume of the music video.
The title (Artist and Album Name) will be either at the top of the cover or at the bottom in a white text.
The back cover will feature the same road leading off in the opposite direction.

The above designs feature an establishing shot of hills in the countryside. Based off of the image below, the cover will be mainly green, with the sky above being white (from overcast clouds). The album will include either the performer with an instrument (guitar) or another object of significance that matches the theme of the album. Again, the performer will be wearing clothes similar to that of the music video.
The title of the digipak will be positioned at the top of the cover in black font (contrasting the white background).
The back cover of the digipak will feature an extension of the image, off to the left. The song list will be created with the same font as the title and an image of the artist will also be included in a square above the song list.

Structure of our Music Video

This is a timeline showing the structure of our music video. It shows how we  are going to integrate the narrative into the performance and the balance between them.

Editing Software Plan

For our music video we will be using Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and Photoshop to create it to the highest possible standard. For the majority of editing we will be using Premiere Pro, which will allow us cut our shots together and add video effects such as slow motion. We will use After Effects to make lighting and colour tweaks to our footage, which we know has a heavy focus upon, from our research. Finally we will be using Photoshop to help us create our magazine advert and construct our digipak.

Analysis of Song Lyrics

From the lyric analysis we now understand the theme of the song and its meaning of change. This gives us a better idea of how to pace the editing and the mood of the overall video required.

This will help influence almost all aspects of the production process, from the storyboard/narrative to the editing and cuts of the music video.

Storyboards/Shot lists

Shot List

• Cluster of extreme long shots showing location/setting
• Close up of guitar (performer playing)
• Close up of string (camera pans along string)
• Mid shot, low angle of performer on wall (playing guitar)
• Close up of grass (field out of focus in background), lens flare
• Long shot of performer on wall
• Mid shot of performer (following string)
• Long shot of performer (walking along road)
• Long shots & close ups of setting
• Close up of string
• Close up of guitar (performer playing)
• Long shot of performer
• Mid shot of performer (following string)
• Long shot of performer (following string)
• Long shot of performer (playing guitar)
• Long shot of performer (following string)
• Close up of performer (Playing guitar)
• Long shot of performer (following string)
• Extreme long shot, pans around 360 degrees (top of hill)

Close ups

Close up shots will be used in our video to focus on the performer when singing and their acoustic guitar. Close ups won't really be used anywhere else, except for any objects of significance such as the string in our narrative.

Mid shots

In our music video we will need to use mid shots to show our performer singing and playing their guitar. They will also be used to show the narrative side to our story.

Long shots

The shots in our music video will be used to show our performer moving around the narrative world and how they interact with it, whilst incorporating  a lot of scenery into view at the same time.

Filming/ Editing Schedule

Filming (Weather Dependent)
Sat 6th Dec '14 - Performance Shots, Narrative Shots                                      (Requires performer)
Sat 13th Dec '14 - Establishing/Scenic Shots
Sun 14th Dec '14 - Extra shots (Missed on previous days)                                (May require performer)

Editing
Wed 10th Dec '14 - Cut & Order performance and narrative sequences.
Mon 15th Dec '14 - Add extra shots and effects.


Equipment
Camera (Lumix DMC-G5)
Tripod
Light (Torch or Camera lights)

Contact with band/ artist

John Cabot Academy

Woodside Road

Kingswood

Bristol

BS15 8ND

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am currently a student at John Cabot Academy in Bristol, UK, studying Media Studies at A2. As part of my course, I am required to create a music video (as well as a digipak and an advert for) in the indie folk genre. As such, I am writing to request permission for the use of Ben Howard's 'Keep Your Head Up'. The video will be used for educational purposes only and will not generate any profit, however will be uploaded to the John Cabot Academy YouTube page, but again, it will not be monetized.

Thank you for taking the time to consider this letter. If you have any further requirements, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully,

Marcus Woolley

Props List

Props List

Raw Footage of Locations

The above video features a number of our chosen locations, demonstrating the potential of the locations as well as some ideas for camera movements.

Photographs of Locations

Above is our location ideas for where we are going to film our music video ( Click for more detail) Each marker has several photographs and a description beneath.

 Our shots mainly consist of open spaces showing the scenic fields, helping to give a natural feel to our shots, which from our research, we know has a heavy focus. As all of our locations are in the same area, it means that we should be able to get multiple shots filmed in the short time window we will have.

Artist Styling/ Costume Planning

 

The costume for the narrative and the performance shots will be very casual, based on what we found in our research.

The hoodie, in plain grey without any logos, and the plain blue, straight legged jeans suggests something that you wouldn't spend any time considering and can just be quickly put on. This reflects the mood of the music video and the performer's lack of motivation and depression (at least in the first parts of the song). The boots, especially when covered in mud and dirt, match the location of the music video, and the lack of cleanliness also reinforces the idea of a lack of motivation.

Moodboard

Initial Planning Ideas

This mind map shows our initial thoughts and ideas for what features we want to include in our music video which we have found from our research.

Research into Adverts

Research into Digipaks

Tracking an artist/ band throughout their career

Music Channels

Audience Research

Survey Feedback

From creating this survey and analysing its results I have learnt a few things, one being that most people watch music videos to understand how the artist wants you to perceive the song or to experience it in a different way. I now understand that people watch music videos mainly for the narrative and not for the performance, however people also like to see a blend of the two.  The majority of people also like to see how the artist is represented through the music video as the song will usually relate to aspects of their lives. Ben Howard was the most popular indie folk artists. This could be because of his recent popularity meaning more people know about him more than any other artist as it is quite a niche genre. The link between peoples favourite music videos was that they were visually appealing and enticed  them to watch the whole thing. This means that for my music video i'll have to think about how I combine both narrative and performance to create an exciting video that people want to watch.

Hello, my name is Andrew and I am seventeen years old. My favourite genre of music is Indie Folk. Some of my favourite artists are Ben Howard, Mumford and Sons and Foster the People. I like their music videos as they tie in their performance into their narrative creating a very interesting combination. I mainly watch music videos on YouTube because of how easy it is to access. I think the way that the artists are represented within their music videos are important, but not as much as how the song is presented in a visual way.

Analysis of Previous Student's Work

1. Molly Perryman- Imagine Dragons- "Radioactive"

What went well:
Good use of camera angles and various shot types.
Editing-Visual effects were good and the cuts matched the pace of the song.
Good use of lighting.

Even better if:
If the lighting could of been slightly better.
If there was a narrative it could of been a bit more interesting to watch, but technically it was very good.




2.Hannah Tapscott- Ariana Grande- "Baby I"
What went well:
The rate at which shots were cut matched the pace of the song.
Performance was good.
Variety of camera angles.

Even better if:
If all shots were in focus.
If there was more shot types other than mid shots.
There were more locations.






Sophie Pring- Miley Cyrus- "Wrecking Ball"

What went well:
Good balance between narrative and performance shots.
Wide variety of camera angles.
Editing- Use of fades to transition between shots.

Even better if:
If some of the shots were not shaky.
If all shots were in focus.

Ben Parsons-Demi Lovato- "Give Your Heart A Break"

What went well:
Lots of camera angles and shot types.
Lots of locations.
Good mixture of narrative and performance shots.

Even better if:
Some of the shots didn't match the quality of others which could of been replaced or removed.
Editing- If the pace of the cuts matched the pace of the song.

Jodie Hall- Taylor Swift- "Trouble

What went well:
Narrative was strong.
Editing- On screen text suited genre.
Editing- Pace of cuts between shots matched pace of song.

Even better if:
There were more locations.
More camera angles and shot types.
Lighting could of been better.


After looking at previous student's blogs and music videos I have learnt that my blog needs to be very clear in displaying all my posts, so that anyone viewing, can easily navigate between posts instantly. I have also learnt that when making my music video my conventions also need to be strong and clear. I also need to make sure  all technical aspects such as lighting, camera angles, shot types, etc need to be perfect so that my music video looks professional. This task has clarified for me, the steps  I need to think about and take, for when it comes to making my music video, so that it looks as good as possible.

Inspiration and Influences

Inspiration and Influences on PhotoPeach 

By looking at several sources for ideas for what look my music video should include in terms of aesthetics, I have learnt that my artist needs to come across in a smart/causal way. This look could be achieved by choosing my costume having a combination of items such as, a waistcoat, jeans, shirt, trousers, and overall a bright colour scheme. I also think for my performer to have the right look, the will need to have with them certain props like an acoustic guitar, to make the performance feel authentic and genuine to the viewer.

Research in to the relevant genre

Influences of Style

Influences of Style

Research in to an Artist/ band

Research in to an Artist- Band

Analysis of Music Videos

From doing this task I have learnt a few things that I need to think about when making my music video, for example I need to make that, from my research, there are more narrative shots than performance shots, but I still need to have frequent performance shots. Another thing I learnt is that any shot being either performance or narrative doesn't typically go on for more than three seconds. I have also noticed that most music videos will use close ups for the performance shots and mid- long shots are used for the narrative shots.

Research into existing companies that produce and distribute videos.

Ben Howard- The Wolves

Ben Howard released the song "These Waters" in June 2008. It was released before Ben was signed to a record label on and album called Games in the Dark. Then in 2011 it was re-released as  "The Wolves"  on his next album called Every Kingdom. At this time Ben Howard when The Wolves was released he was signed with Island Records. Island Records was originally a UK based label but as of today it has branches in the UK, US and Australia. Island Records has now even signed artists as big as Bob Marley, Rizzle Kicks and Ariana Grande.

Mumford and Sons- The Cave

In august 2009 Mumford and Sons signed to Island Records like Ben Howard .Mumford and Sons released their song "The Cave" in February 2010 on their debut album Sigh No More. It was their second single to reach the US, after "Little Lion Man" and  sold over 1.6 million digital copies by September 2012.



Noah and The Whale- L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.

Noah and The Whale have been signed to multiple record labels such as Young and Lost, Cherrytree Records, Vertigo Records and  Mercury Records. In 2011 Noah and the Whale released their third album called Last Night on Earth. "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." was the first official released single from the album and it was released under Mercury Records. Mercury Records is an American-based record label owned by Universal Music Group. In the United States, it operates through Island Records; in the UK which as I have previously mentioned, owns other Artists within the Indie Folk genre. Mercury records have signed big names such as Rihanna, Jay-Z and Taylor Swift.

Foster the People- Pumped Up Kicks

In 2010 Foster the People was an unknown indie band who couldn't find an outlet for their music. However later that year they released the song "Pumped UP Kicks" free of charge onto their website. Thanks to social media it wasn't long before the song went viral, and the band was soon flooded with record labels trying to sign them including labels such as Warner Bros, Atlantic Records and many more, however the band decided to go with Columbia Records. Columbia Records is an American based label under ownership of Sony Music Entertainment. Columbia Records own artists such as Little Mix, Rita Ora and Adele.

The Lumineers- Ho Hey

In December 2011 The Lumineers released what would be their number one single "Ho Hey". At this time they were not signed with a label, but just two months later The Lumineers passed all major label offers to sign with the independent Dualtone Records. Unlike the previously mentioned record labels Dualtone Records actually focuses on artists within the indie folk genre. 

In conclusion I can see that most mainstream record labels such as Island Records or Columbia Records have no main link in terms of genre between the artists they sign, but instead focus on which artists will be successful. With the exception of Dualtone Records which at the moment only chooses artists within the indie folk genre.

Conventions of a Music Video

Conventions of a Music Video

History of Music Videos

 The four music I have to chosen to compare are;

"Walk This Way"-Aerosmith  1980
"Smell Like Teen Spirit"-Nirvana 1990
"Californication"-Red Hot Chili Peppers 2000's
"Maps"-Maroon 5  2014

"Walk This way" by Aerosmith has a very strong performance based music video. This was probably because of its rock genre, which focuses on the atmosphere of concerts and how the fans react to seeing them. This music video had only a little bit of narrative at the start which develops into the performance shots which take up the majority of the video. Next is "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, which despite being ten years later, has a very similar music video in which the music video is made up of just performance shots. However "Californication" by Red Hot Chili Peppers is a huge difference in video content. For example the only performance shots we see are in the top left corner of the screen which is hardly noticeable compared the video game themed narrative which the the main focus of the video. It features the members of the band as characters within the CGI world taking traditional music videos to a whole new level. Lastly "Maps" by Maroon 5 has the strongest narrative based video, featuring zero performance shots. The narrative shots show the lead singer in a narrative based world as a regular man, not as a performer e.g Aerosmith's StevenTyler. This shows that over thirty years music videos have changed quite dramatically over the years from pure perfromance, performance, with little narrative, narrative with little performance and finally pure narrative based music videos

Theory

Narrative Workshop

"Music videos are simply an extension of the lyrics"- Andrew Goodwin

How could you prove/disprove this?

You could prove this theory in many ways, for example you could take a single lyric and take some screen shots of when this lyric is said. Then you can see if this matches/ represents the lyrics in any way. You could also see if the music video has anything that visually represents the song in a way where if you saw the video you would know what song it was for. You could also look into multiple songs of a specific genre and see how their conventions  represent the artists thoughts through the lyrics and music video.

What does it mean?

It means that the music video of a song should in some way perhaps further develop ideas/ understanding for the viewer. It also means that listeners can have their own interpretation of the lyrics when listening to the song and then see how the artist wanted the viewer to interpret the song.

What is the main idea behind this?

I think the main idea behind this is to provide a strong theme for the song, however leaving room for the listener to perceive the song however they want. It also means the lyrics can be told in a more clear/ visual way.

How significant is this?

I don't think its very important, as a song isn't supposed to be characterised by its video, but the lyrics themselves. The video helps to further demonstrate the metaphors and hidden meanings within the song, however its not as important as the lyrics.

What evidence can you already present for this? Do you agree with this? Explain your answer

For example, a video from a rock band such as Green Day, will feature them just preforming their song at a concert to their fans. This represents the actual band and their interaction with their fans, but it doesn't add anything in terms of the lyrics meanings. However a music video from an Indie group would more typically focus on representing the lyrics and artist.

Lip Syncing Task

In this task we had to practice our lip syncing skills. We were put into groups of three, and we were given the song "never getting back together" by Taylor Swift to perform to. After filming we had to upload our footage and sync the video with the digital version of the song and begin to bring all of the video clips together.
Our music video

Once we had done this, we then had to watch another group's music video and analyse their use of composition and framing in their shots they chose to film.

Another group's video that we analysed.

Our evaluation of their music video
After we had done this task we then had to look at several aspects we had focused on during this task and see what we had learnt from doing this task and what we found difficult.



What we have learnt:

• You can add a marker to the audio and video to help sync with the digital sound.
• Composition and framing is very important to making the video look interesting and making it work with the song.
• Performers need to talk or sing, not mime, otherwise it doesn't look good
• Make sure the location suits the theme of the song
• Make cuts to the pace of the music
• Plan what you want to film and how you will do it

Difficulties:

• Lack of mouth movements make it hard to sync with the digital audio
• Trying to constantly think about composition and framing
• Finding appropriate locations

Task 2- Composition and Framing

Before and After

In this task I was given the theme Hidden/Revealed. I had to take pictures that captured this theme whilst also thinking about the composition of my shots. The first set of photo taking didn't go too well, as you can see I only thought about my theme rather than how I was going to display them. So we then learnt about composition of shots and techniques we could use to improve them when taking them again. The second time taking the pictures, I think went a lot better since I had already acquired most of my ideas so all I had to do was think about what techniques I could use to make them better. I think most of my ideas were quite successful on conveying y theme, however I think I could find better shots if I wasn't restricted to taking pictures around the school. If this was the case I think I could utilize more techniques in a ore creative way .

Task 1- Skills Development

Research

Before planning our film opening, we had to do a lot of research into the gangster genre, and then further develop this research to make sure we also knew about its sub genres. We spent a lot of time looking into what the conventions of the gangster genre were so that when it came to the construction of our 2 minute opening we knew exactly what to include and avoid to help replicate the genre as much as possible. We decided to choose the sub genre British gangster as we thought this would be the most professional recreation of a real British gangster film. We had begun to research common directors and themes within this genre to begin to know what to include in our opening so when it came to the planning and construction we could do these processes very quickly. Within our research we discovered that the British sub genre was the most appropriate due to most of these films being made by small independent companies with a relatively smaller budget than the other sub genres. When researching films of this sub genre we noticed there were some very strong themes such as violence, crime and urban settings, we then knew that is was key to include as many of themes as possible  where appropriate to ensure a realistic representation of the British gangster genre.Once we had all of this information collected we also asked many people for their ideas for what they would like to see in our film opening especially the music as we thought this was key to creating the tense atmosphere we desired.

Planning

Then with our acquired knowledge if the British gangster sub genre we had to plan how we going to apply this into our opening so that our theme was clear to who ever would view it. We started by breaking up our ideas into a few fields being story, props, costume, etc. This meant that we had a clear way of viewing our ideas and could easily decide on what we thought we would work the best. once our main ideas were clear we thought about where we could put them into practice. We spent a few days looking around for the perfect places to capture our film opening, so when it came to the construction we could be quick and efficient with our time. We then story boarded our plot and drew each scene with its now found location, so we were really clear about what was being filmed where. This story board then became a detailed script for our actors so they knew exactly what to do, with them also being given dates for when we would need them to film, in advance meaning that there were no problems when it came to the construction. Now that we had our actors we began thinking of their costume and props that would represent their character the most, which didn't take long due to our previous research. Then we had to decide on how we were going to include our titles and how we were going to display them, so we just looked at our research and looked for a common theme.

Construction

The construction stage for us was relatively easy as everything was planned in advance so we knew exactly what we had to film on what days and where. This left us with plenty of time to evaluate our work and gave us a time period to film any extra shots or re-film any shots that didn't turn out quite as planned. This time also allowed time to sort out the music for our film.The music for our opening was probably the hardest bit of the construction stage as we couldn't find any recorded song that matched the pacing of our clip. This is why we instead took sound clips of royalty free music and put them together ourselves so the music sounded as though it was recorded for our film personally. We did decide to add extra plot points to our film opening as well, as we thought that the clip didn't really go anywhere, so instead we changed the ending so it looked as though there was a film to follow it.

Evaluation

Finally we had to evaluate what we had created. This allowed us to compare our film to those we studied in our research period such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, RocknRolla and Layer Cake, to see how well we had represented this genre and to what extent had we been successful. We had analysed mise en scene, sound, editing and camera within our own opening to see if our opening was effective at portraying our clip as an authentic British gangster opening. We also had to evaluate how we had thought about institutions and audiences and how we made our opening appeal to them. The final stage was then to compare this final film to out preliminary task and see how much we had learnt and see how much we have improved at film making as a whole.