Roles For The Music Video

Due to the stage we are at with the development of our music video, we feel that it is appropriate to designate each other with the roles that we will be in charge of which will make a huge difference through production and post production.
Both Sanj and I created a short film before beginning our coursework which allowed us to demonstrate the skill we had with very little practice of using a camera and the Mac software. Therefore we have decided that Sanj would be director of the video, aswell as make up and clothing stylist, and I would be in charge of camera work, and lead the role of editing.
With this project previously created we believe we have an advantage over others as we have experience working together so we know where our strengths as a pair lie and where more work needs improving to improve our overall video.

Our Previous Project:

Storyboard Animatic

Digipak Advert Inspiration

Relfection Post

Throughout previous posts, we have ensured that progression has been made with our dancers.


Initially, we had no indication of how far our dancers had created a routine for our chosen song. Dedicaticating after school hours allowed both Nat and I to meet up with our dancers to see how much work that had done.
When first seeing them, we where happy. Ellie had a clear idea of the narrative and image that we wanted to create, particular elements of the dancer she had shown us had displayed clear evidence of the unhappy relationship.

Target Post

During the course of this week, both Nat and I aim to complete the choreography to Standing In The Way Of The Light with Michael and Ellie's input.


Knowing that the filming process will be commencing within the upcoming weeks, our main priority is to ensure that the routine has been completed for our chosen song.
Similarly to our initial meet up, we will ensure that progression and rehearsal are captured on camera, showing clear progression and development from our previous routines.
This will also allowing the dancers to learn the routine to the best standard possible. Over time we have learnt that to ensure that the performance is at the best standard possible we will need to initiate gatherings until Nat and I are happy with the overall outcome.


These will be posted online once completed, it will ensure that the progression that we have made can be found in a single place, as well as receiving critique from people will knowledge of Dance and camera work (Media). Gaining feedback is crucial, as it will give us a clear understanding of how developed our work is, and any changes that would need to be made to ensure that the overall look appears effective and visually pleasing for the viewer.


Once we are happy with our performances will we consider merging with our artist. At this point we aim to have a location and completed storyboard, supporting us during the filming process. This will have to be completed out of school hours to ensure that a high level of care and consideration is taken into account, including the amounts of time a shot would be used and the number of seconds that a frame will last.
With our location, we will able to see the equipment, props and size of the room. From this we will then be able to consider the necessary camera angles that we feel would work with the type of room that we are using.
Our dancers, will also have a clear indication with the type of manoeuvres that they can preform with the size of room that they are given. We will have to ensure that they are placed in particular positions to ensure that we have the most effective frame possible, as well as giving us a visual indication of the overall video outcome.

Choreography Update 2

Choreography Update

We met with our dancers last night to begin the choreography. Due to having changed our female dancer, we had to re-work the steps and change a large amount due to it being satisfactory to the standard we set. We used the school dance studio, and filmed a variety of shots as well as the routine we have so far to outline the planning and progression throughout the session. We are meeting again on Monday evening after school for a few hours to continue the choreography. On Monday we will have more time together as a group as external activity such as work and parents evening will not effect the time slots we have and can utilise.

Chosen Dancers

Dancer #1 (Female)

Name: Ellie Miller

Age: 16/17

Biography: Ellie is a current college student, studying her first year of A-Levels outside of our college. We have been able to gain contact with Ellie through the use of social networks (Facebook). With a honest, hardworking and outgoing personality - Ellie was happy to take the opportunity to appear in our music video. At her college, she also studies Dance, proving to be reliable for the performance that we attempt to create.

The initial choreograph to Standing In The Way of The Light was created by our female dancer, a clear evidence of the time and deviation that she is prepared to take. Looking at the routine, there are no faults. It has heavily been thought out and there is understanding of the amount of consideration she has taken to ensure that the performance/ routine looks to be the best possible standard as

possible.

Our only worry at this current moment in time is Ellie's availability. Working part time as a waitress, it is understandable that she sees work as a priority. Depending on our chosen  location, it may/may not become a problem. However, have discussed filming after school and weekends, which she is more than happy to abide to.

Dancer #2 (Male)

Name: Michael Ball

Age: 16/17

Biography: As a current dancer within our college, Michael is easily accessible. He is currently enrolled in Dance as part of his AS/A2 college courses. Having experience for over more than 3 years Michael has gained a wide range of skills and development as a performer, with the college course giving him constant opportunities to improve. Recommended by a teacher within the dance department, both I and Nat have discovered that he is a hard working student, devoted to something that he is heavily interested in - something that we feel would be appropriate for the video that we are attempting to create.

During our initial shoots/ video footage, we have seen a small sample of the type dancer that he is, with a small part of Standing In The Way Of The Light already choreographed, his knowledge and understanding was displayed in the excellent standard of dance that was shown. Within this time, we also learnt that he is keen and quick to learn, being able to quickly reproduce the same routine as his partner, we feel that Michael is the best choice of male dancer for our music video.

We plan to dress both dancers in monotone styled clothing. Ellie will more than likely be wearing a simple black leotard, something she has already through her dancing. Michael will be wearing a simple black top with cotton cut of shorts. However we are aware of the make up involved, we need to ensure that the dancers appear 'perfect' something that we have seen in our previous research. Using concealer and hairspray will be our main priority, although the dancers will appear at certain points within the song, we must not risk any imperfections. We feel that all of this his will give up simplicity and professionalism, and give the focus on the artist - Billie White.

During our discussion, we found that our dancers had already performed together. During our initial planning/ footage we saw the high level of communication that they both shared. There was excellent passion and chemistry from both dancers involved - something that will be needed to ensure that our final video is successful. There was also the understanding of the standard that each dancer was involved and the perseverance to do well - all of which have reassured our worries for unsuccessful dancers.

                       

                                           

Camera Shots

Storyboard Analysis

After producing the storyboard, it becomes clear that there is a pattern throughout. We have a range from 2 second shots to 8 seconds shots, however the average of most shots is 4 seconds. There is a a link with the length of the shot when different parts of the song are played. The chorus for example alternates between two shots of 4 seconds to a shot of 3 seconds as this fits in our opinion best with the rhythm of the song. We feel by doing this, the video will be more effective and reflect our understanding of video conventions.

We have used a wide variety of shots, however we also believe that these need to contain a pattern in some form. We however don't want it to be synchronised all the time as this can create boredom when watching. 

Our storyboard as a whole isn't drawn out to as much detail as it could be as we were tight for time and deadlines. Therefore over the weekend it will be re-drawn out and the anime will be created. Due to meeting with our dancers for hours yesterday in our spare time we didn't manage to finish the storyboard. This is also due to the fact that the dance isn't fully choreographed throughout meaning we cannot storyboard certain shots until we know the full dance routine. 

Inspiration From Films

           

The choreography our dancers have created has been inspired through multiple scenes within films that both Sanj and I presented to them at rehearsals. We believe that because they have used moves and sections of routines from each of these it makes it a lot easier to get across our music video narrative to the audience. This doesn't necessarily mean that these types of lifts and moves are mainstream and over used across dance as an industry, it reflects the complexity and level our dancers can dance to, as well as creating the emotional atmosphere we wish. 

Representations Of Our Music Video

When creating a music video, it is crucial that we present a clear narrative to the audience that are watching. This means that, when planning we must decide upon how the video will look in relation to the musical genre, mise en scene and overall appearance. Below is a description of how the visual elements would be presented.

Who (compare to artist):

• Through pre-existing research and planning, both Nat and I have based our model/ artist around the singer/songwriter Birdy. This is because, initially Katie and Birdy had similar features that  made them appear identical. We felt that this would look good for the overall appearance of our video, and therefore give the audience a pleasurable viewing experience.

What (existing videos):

• Music Videos for songs already on the music market have features in which we would like to interpret in our own way so that our video is individual. Representations of these videos are all positive, and don't perceive our artist to be looked at in a different way. They also more or less all connect to the song emotionally in some way, which is a representation of our genre we would like to apply to our video. 

Where (existing videos):

• Locations which exist in videos already on the market have locations we would like to mimic. Some of which aren't within the genre we are looking at recreating, however we believe the location type is something that would allow the emotion of the narrative to take place, and have a better effect on the audience.

When (time period) 80's

• A video that Birdy created called 'wings' had an interesting Mise en Scene approach. We believe however that this isn't something we would like to recreate, we feel that the vintage 80's theme that runs through her songs is something we would like to if possible keep. 

Why (Via. Genre):

• Indie Pop is a genre usually represented through simplicity of the video. We believe that this is the most important thing and therefore we would like to ensure that we create this representation. We believe the audience who listen to this genre listen deeply within the lyrics, and therefore this is something we have taken into account with regards to developing our video. 

Risk Assesment

Risk Assesment

To ensure that the environment we will be working in is safe, there are a certain amount of aspects and features we need to consider with regards to the safety and well-being of ourselves and our video stars.
Cables of lights and cameras need to be out of the way, or if on the floor laid out so that they don't become a trip hazard. This is important as accidents can occur, which can result in the breaking of equipment and people involved.
We need to ensure that lights are switched off when not used so they don't overheat and become a fire hazard. Not only will this cause danger to us, but it will damage the expensive equipment. We need to ensure that all stars of the music video follow instruction by Sanj and I to ensure their safety and the respect of the location we use to film is of a high standard. As a result of this it would be less likely for anything to break and for us to receive a fine, and the safety and well-being of everyone would be good.
We will ensure that there is no glass, food or drink present throughout the filming session on set as this could cause a hazard of damage to the equipment, or a result in perhaps a slip hazard if anything is spilt on the floor or left lying around.
We will make sure that when the camera is not in use that it is placed back in a bag or stood on a tripod out of the way so it doesn't become a further problem. We will make sure that the equipment we use is returned in the standard it was given to us.
When arriving at the location we will ensure that we are aware of the fire safety procedures, as well as the locations of where the nearest fire extinguishers and exits are to ensure we are prepared in case of an accident occurring.

Digipak Inspiration

Our Dancers

We have come across an issue this week with our dancers, resulting in a change in female artist, as Sophie is no longer available. The choreography will remain the same, however Ellie will dance with Michael instead. We believe this could work out in our favour because Ellie and Michael are great friends, so the connection between them whilst dancing will be a lot slicker. Ellie and Sophie both have the same ability in contemporary ballet, so the choreography will not create difficulty for Ellie, which in a way doesn't throw us back too many steps. We plan to meet with Ellie and Michael at the end of this week to take test shots of the dance, and rehearsal time, to get used to filming dance, the routine they will be dancing, and the amount of space required to make sure we get good enough shots when we come to filming.
Although this caused us great stress finding another dancer, we do believe that we will be back on track by the start of next week with regards to the beginning stage of filming and being ready for it.

Dance Mood Board

Target Post

During the course of this week/ lesson, both Nat and I aim to priorities the outstanding blog posts that will need to be completed. This is crucial as it gives the audience a key understanding the level of thinking that we share whilst working as a group.


Our main concern/ importance is to ensure that we have meet with the dancers involved in our video in order to finish choreographing a routine to Standing In The Way Of The Light. We have requested there time during out of school hours, meaning that we will not be restricted by our time management. During the meet-up we will ensure that we film certain aspects of the performance in order to see how well the routine fits with the song that we have chosen. This will also give us a clear indication of how well the dancers look on camera, a factor that we have been reassured will be a little issue. When discussing a replacement dancer, the chosen on that we have found has worked with our male dancer previously. We are hopeful that the overall appearance of the music video will now look a lot more professional and less 'staged'.


Although this is has not yet been scheduled, once seeing the dancers - our storyboard will be completed. This will then be approved, but both Nat and I as well as the teacher will have a better and realistic understanding of the image that we intend to create.

Evaluation Post

During the course of this week, both Nat and I have researched several factors that have allowed us to focus on the location and the people involved within the video.


Though initiated conversation via social networks, we have been able to gain contact with the people we wish to feature in the video (dancers and artists). As a result, we have been able to arrange locations where Nat and myself will be able to discuss choreographing a appreciate dance that would  work with the music that we have chosen.




When looking at a filming location, research has allowed us to find relevant locations that we feel would work with the overall appearance of the video.
We have been able to contact Target Studios, a place where we feel would give us a professional overall look. Through the pictures we have been provided, the photo studio fits the basic needs that we need fulfilling. The 'simple' look, appears to be a large white studio room with black doors. It appears that there is sufficient amount of space, something we felt was a issue previously and has said to be equipped with lighting facilities. All of which, is something that we would be encouraged to us and need to ensure we have a efficient looking video.


However, although we have tried to gain contact via E-Mail there has been no response, we are engage to find more details about the studio including pricing and fixtures. As a result, we will attempt to gain contact with them within the near future.

Narrative Theorists

Vladimir Propp's theory with regards to character roles is usually used within the film industry, however we firmly believe that we could adapt it to work in our music video. The narrative is based upon a typical mainstream love story between a male and a female, however there is a slight twist. Due to our singer telling the story of her emotions, her character is something we explore through the art of dance. Thus meaning our dancers (Sophie and Michael) are the narrative, or in Propp's theory the false hero is Sophie because in our artists head she is the person seeking the thing she cannot have and trying to cause trouble. Michael however in our artists' eye is the hero, because he creates her a sense of happiness and feels love for her, which is the role a hero has in a film.















The interpretations we have made from Propp's theory is something we believe will be reflected in our video, and therefore by proposing these efforts we feel that we now have a goal to create these characters through music and visuals.

Clothing

Billie-White

Shirt:

• Although we have not yet seen the full extent of Katie/ Billie-Whites wardrobe, we have currently agreed that she should be wearing a similar styled shirt to the one in the image provided. The outfit will help to provide a clear representation of the artists genre and performance style, giving the audience a visual key to what they would be expecting from the style of our video.
• With a black and white theme running throughout, we must carefully chose the type of colours that will feature on elements of particular styled clothing. We must consider that colours we are using in relation to the type of editing that we intend to use after the filming process. This is because when using a black and white filter./ software the lighting could mean that the artist appears 'washed-out' and the imagery of the artist would be distorted.
• In this particular image, Billie-White is seen to be wearing a buttoned shirt with various shades of blue and small amounts of white. From this, we are able to get a clear indication of the types of colours that work well, however before filming we have time to experiment.

Jeans:

• High waisted jeans, are the best fit that we feel would work with the video that we are creating. The artist that we have created has a 'quirky' almost indie personality. As a result, we feel that the type of clothing we wear should support this.

Thin Belt:

• This helps to tie our outfit together, although it provides no major issues for the overall costume. 

To ensure that there is a theme of simplicity used throughout, we have decided that the dancers involved must wear the most neutral shades of colour as possible. Using a theme of either black, white or grey means that there will be no issues when filming/ editing in black and white, this also means that the dancers would not be working against the mise en scene of the filming location and lighting, this gives a professional impression and shows the care and consideration that has been taken to ensure that the people involved, look good.

In addition, we have found that many videos that we have found feature people wearing simplistic styled clothing, which we feel would be best to suit the needs of our music genre.

Female Dancer

Black Leotard

A black leotard is something that is very important for our dancer to be wearing during the filming stage. This is something that can link together the costume and the relevance of the dancer in a positive way. Having spoken already to our female dancer, a leotard is already provided. Meaning we are not restricted for our availability and location.

White Tights

Works in the best possible way for our female dancers costume. The black and white outfit works with our filter that we will use to achieve a professional appearance. These are already provided, meaning the our female dancers outfit causes no problems.

Male Dancer

Black Top:

A black top, is simple and easy to get hold of. Supplied in most retail stores, it means that we will not be restricted or pushed for time when it comes down to our artist and dancers appearance. In addition, the bold black coloured top will ensure that it becomes the focus of the video, and the viewer would be encouraged to watch the video in full and understand the narrative.

Grey Shorts:

Would provide ease of movement for the male dancer. With our routine featuring lifts, we feel that the more relaxed the dancer feels, the better the video will look. We have ensured that the colour of the shorts also works with our overall design of the dancers in the video. It also adheres to the relaxed, dancer convention that we have created. This ensures that their is a true reflection of our video and those that exsist.

Hair and Makeup

Through research and posts that we have published, both Nat and I can now see the clear differences between our chosen model (Katie) and Birdy. However, it is not uncommon that the a large amount of make up will be used in order for our model to achieve a flawless and professional overall look.

Eyes:

• In order to achieve heavy eye make up, we both understand that there will be a significant amount of mascara and eyeliner that will be used.
• From research, we have found that in many of Birdy's photographs there is enough eye makeup to ensure that it  becomes a main focus point of the artists overall appearance. Through personal knowledge, we understand that the different levels of eye makeup can connote different stereotypes. In addition, the type of make up that we apply with also have to correlate with the music we are using, in some videos/ pictures heavily eye makeup is often found on songs relating to emotion/ sadness. Furthermore, when developing our skills we will later be able to apply different effects (smoky, hazy) that we feel will fit particular parts of the song - especially when their is focus on the artists face. Therefore it is crucial that the amount that we apply on the chosen model (Katie) to ensure that she has the same amount to resemble the existing artist that we are basing her around.
• Through online tutorials and advise from others, both Nat and I will have to experiment with different techniques and levels that we fill with suit the overall appearance of our video.

Cheeks:

• Luckily, both Katie's and Birdy's hair are both similar length and style. The 'natural/ bedhead' look is something that works in contrast with the overall look of both people. However, during classroom discussions - we realised that in order to achieve a professional standard of 'natural' looking hair we would have to put time and effort into the style and positioning to ensure that we have a clear and professional finish.
• Although the style appears to be the same, we found that we would have to make many changes to Katie's hair to make it look as identical as possible. Without research, there is clear evidence that the front of Katie's hair will need to be roughly backcombed in order to achieve the front 'messy look' that we have found in many pictures. This will be relatively simple, as changing the parting and back combing is something that I have already experienced and watched. With the rest of her hair, there is the element of volume. This can be done simply, either through hair equipment (curlers/ straighteners) or with our own work. 

Hair:

• When comparing Katie/ Billie-White to our chosen existing artist we found that the main issue, was the difference between jawline/ cheek structure. When discussing our model with peers and support leaders we found that the difference in cheeks between the two people made a huge difference. Initially, we found that Katie's cheeks are more rounded, with a heavily focus closer to her eyes, rather than below. Comparing this to Birdy, we found that her cheeks appeared more defined and there is heavily focus between the lower areas of her cheek and jawline. From research, I have found that many songs featuring emotion focus on a more defined facial structure, there is more focus on how the artists appearance reflects the mood/ atmosphere that they are creating with the song they are preforming.
• With little knowledge of cheek structure, I feel that both Nat and I will rely on lighting and make up. We will use make up to define certain areas of Katie's cheek that we feel need highlighting, rather than the overall appearance of her face. Certain angles, shading and lighting, will also impact how the artist looks on screen. As a result we must ensure that they camera angles and artist appearance are the best that they can be.

Lips/ Eyebrows:

• Although there are issues regarding both Katie's lips and eyebrows, we find that these can be simply fixed. Regarardding Katie's lips, there is the issue of either making them look smaller or plumper. When adding volume to lips - many colours and brands can be able to fix this. Adding shades give a significant effect, that we feel will be able to work with.

Location Idea 2

We have found a photography studio location with in the radius we could travel to, which would be a good contender for the type of feel we would like the location to have. Due to it being a large facility, the camera angles we use with regards to the dancing could potentially create more flexibility. However, unfortunately we still are yet to receive a response from the studio office to confirm a few queries we both have.

The Email:

The Facilities:

Data Gathered - Photoshoot

Test Shots - (Katie) Evaluation

As from the previous post, there is clear evidence of a successful photo shoot between Nat, Katie and myself. This photo-shoot provides a good sample of images that show how happy that the artist is in front of the camera, giving us both confidence that a good music video will be created.

Before the photo-shoot, several difficulties where experienced. Our first issue, resulted mainly because a lack of communication. During the set up process of the photo-shoot, both Nat and I found it extremely difficult to find an appropriate camera that would produced a professional set of photos that we feel would be approtipate for the coursework that we are producing.
Before the photoshoot had begun, there was a clear understanding of the type of camera that we would be using in order to create professional looking photos that would look realistic for the audience. However, we had found that the chosen camera had no battery (due to issues of not of our own) and that resulted in a un-operational Nikon Camera.
When looking, we did find a camera that ran via batteries. This was not to the standard that we needed, but at this point the lack of  organisation that we had found ourselves in had meant that we would be working with whatever we had found. When attempting to turn on the camera, we had found that this was also - un-operational. Even when he had plugged multiple power sources there was no avail.
With no other choice, both Nat and I had decided that using a IPhone 5c would be the only possible way that photos would be captured in the required amount of time.

These issues that we encountered are something that we could learn from. When preparing for the next shoot, we would ensure that we managed our time appropriately. This means that we would be arriving at destinations early and preparing necessary lighting and photography equipment.
When arriving in the photo shoot room, setting up was quick. Having experience last year, both Nat and myself had a clear understanding of the type of pictures that we wanted to achieve.
 With the time left, I felt that the photos we needed would need to be taken quickly - as there was no clear idea about whether the room would be in use during the next hour. In spite of this, Katie appeared naturally relaxed in front of the camera, having done similar type of work during AS there would be several generic poses that she would be able to work with.

Using a mobile phone had advantages. When taking photographs we were able to use filters that allowed us to experiment with the type of lighting and usage that we would be able to use. As we are planning to use a black and white theme, using a an appropriate filter allowed us to see the type of imagery that we would be seeing.

For the end product, we where able to take the desired photos that we needed. Using a IPhone 5c had its limitations. However, we feel that this could be stopped by implementing the following procedures. Including better organisational skills, improvement of time management and pre-planning to ensure that the next shot or filming to ensure its effective.

Reflection Post

During our one hour lesson today, we have began to storyboard approximately 30 seconds of 'Standing In The Way Of The Light'. From this, it is evident that the storyboarding process is a slow, important process where there is clear understanding of how detailed the important finding the appropriate shots will be.
To ensure our video appears realistic for the audience watching, we have taken care to ensure that the sound matches the visuals on screen, for example - matching piano playing visuals to specific parts of the song.
From this, it is clear that we must devote our time to effort out of lessons to ensure that the majority of the song has been storyboarded. As this is only a planning stage, a provisional storyboard can be produced - if needed. From here, we will have a clear indication of how realistic some of our ideas still are.
The next steps to move forward, include finishing the storyboard and meeting up with people involved in the video. We will then be able to work around any specific ideas that they feel is necessary, which will gives a clear idea about how realistic our idea is appearing for those participating in it, for example the number of seconds a specific routine will last or how long a shot can be lasted until it appears unprofessional.

Target Post

Before the lesson had begun, both myself and Nat had a clear idea of the work that needed to be completed, in order for us to begin the preparations for our music video.
Our main task, was to begun a storyboarding the video for 'Standing In The Way Of The Light' . This is crucial, is it mean that we are beginning to develop a better vision and understanding of how the end video will look.
We understand that this task will take the several lessons, and planning will also have to be conducted out of school hours. This is important, as we believe that staying on task will help us work effectively when it filming the video itself.
In addition, while completing the storyboard it must be made aware that, later today Both Nat and I had contacted Katie to produce a photo shoot providing test shots in relation to the artist that we are representing Katie around. Once this will be done, evaluation posts will be conducted diplaying effective organisational skills and time management.

Evidence Of Planning

Through the use of the social media site twitter it allows both Sanj and I to contact our media teachers at any time of the day. The tweets below show evidence of early planning, as we are organising a photoshoot for our artist, and a photoshoot and camera test shot session with our dancers to ensure that we are able to continue with our idea. We believe that this will give us good experience, and be helpful throughout our storyboard process.

Contemporary Dance

Contemporary dance is a broad category of dance, and technique styles such as ballet is a part of it. We decided to chose this style of dance for our music video, as we believe a duet dance of a male and female consists of many emotions, providing you have high level dancers. The dancers we have chosen to perform throughout our video both train and compete in high level dance competitions.

Contemporary ballet is a genre of dance which includes elements of both classical and modern dance. This type of dance also includes pointe dance, which is a shoe containing a block at the end, to able dancers to extend their legs fully on tip toes within routines. Balletic movements such as lifts are also something commonly used throughout dances of this style, this is something we believe will make our video more aesthetically gripping, as well as more passionate. This therefore means that our camera angles are something to consider in depth.

Although Merce Cunningham's theory (the first professional choreographer of contemporary dance) revolved solely around the techniques and art of the dance, he believed a convention of dance shouldn't be narrative. To this day contemporary dance has been shaped around lyrical narratives, and therefore this is now a modern convention. In our opinion we believe that this is something which could make or break our video, and we are willing to firstly take this risk and build our idea upon the dance, and if it doesn't work change the way in which we present it via camera angles.

Lyrical Analysis

Lyrics Analysis by Nat Clarke

Weekly Reflection Post and Targets

Throughout last week Sanj and I viewed a location which we thought could be a potential place to shoot our video. After deep analysis we decided that it is a possibility, however due to the amount of difficulty it could create us when filming we have decided to continue looking for 'better' locations to see if there is anything else affordable and right. Last week we also created a post about the narrative our video will tell the audience. Our reasoning behind this was to make it more aware to our audience what we were trying to produce with regards to the story behind the lyrics. Many people commented on our 25 word pitch that they found it in great difficulty to understand what we wanted to actually produce, and therefore we did something something about that to change.

This weeks targets are to find our dancers for the video so that we can get a good feel about if they will be suitable for our idea, and if they are flexible with time to help us out. After meeting we would then set up sessions for choreographing with them so we can start to shape the dance towards our narrative. This will lead to Sanj and I becoming more confident with the work we are creating, and it will also allow us to see through the test shots that we create if our idea will work, and if we need to adjust our narrative.

Throughout this week we would also like to start our storyboard. We feel in order for our video to be successful our storyboard is a crucial part to planning, and a resource which will make the production stage a lot easier and more efficient for us. We will take a great deal of time ensuring that this is up to the required standard for us to use as a useful resource. As well as our storyboard, we will begin planning the representations we wish for our music video to include, to ensure that we really understand ourselves what we will make, and the amount of time we will need to spend on ensuring that we know exactly who, what, where, when and how we will create our video.

A final target of this week will include creating a post of an analysis of our song lyrics. This we believe will be important to ensure that when we meet our dancers we can present with them the emotion we require from them throughout their performance, as well as Katie's (our actor who plays Billie-White). We also believe that this will help us a lot more into understanding the full underlying meaning of the song, because we feel this is a really important aspect.

In my opinion I believe Sanj and I work really well as a team, our ideas are created from both of our opinions, and our organisation levels have been to a good level to ensure we are keeping up to date with what we wish to produce each week. Ensuring that we continue this, I believe Sanj and I will create a high standard music video.

The Narrative

After receiving feedback from peers with regards to our 25 word pitch, we realised that the narrative within our pitch wasn't as clear as it could be, thus the purpose of this post is to outline it. The narrative of our video will be expressed mainly through the contemporary dance by a male and female, and our artist.

The lyrics of the song are significantly important, so we broke them down to find the meaning, of what we believe Birdy, the original artist, wrote the song about. The chorus which is repeated throughout gave us a large indication:

Main Chorus:
And pull back this fail,
Turn night into day,
Don't know you know you're standing in the way of the light,
Pour oil on these flames,
Speed up my heart again,
Don't you know you're standing in the way of the light.

Chorus Change Towards the End of The Song:
Just pull back this fail,
Turn night into day,
Don't you know you're standing in the way of the light,
Pour oil on these flames,
Speed up my heart again,
Don't you know you're standing in the way of the light,
So come on come on come on,
We've been living in the shadows too long,
So come on come on come on.


These lyrics suggest to us that the artist is singing about the pain they are experiencing within the relationship, and the person they love is constantly putting obstacles in the way of their relationship, resulting in her misery. This could be down to her fear/paranoia that he has found another girl.

In our video, our artist (Billie-White) sings about this 'girl' she believes is diverting her boyfriends attention away from her, as the female dancer isn't the same person as the girl who plays Billie-White. Through the dance, we then express an atmosphere which would suggest that Billie-Whites boyfriend is cheating on her, when really, throughout the whole video, this female dancer is a hallucination in Billie-White's head, and is in fact not real.

After Viewing The Location

Yesterday we went to view the location in which we would like to hire. The two rooms we went to view were a drama studio and a dance studio at a school in the same town as ours. We found many pros and cons:

Pros:

Cheap Facilities

Local Facilities

Large Facilities

Flexible Hours 

Access To Light and Sound Systems

Cons:

Limited Camera Angles

Excessive Natural Light 

Cannot Move Piano To Studios

We believe that we would need to take the camera with us, again, to trial some shots, to see how achievable the ideas we have would be, in order to keep a professional aesthetic.

Before Viewing The Location

• Before viewing the location, we must consider how suitable the potential prospect of the filming location would be in relation to the video that we would be planning to create. We must carefully consider and plan how best the video would look in relation to the size, area and location that we plan to use, while also understanding that some areas may be restricted such as mirrors or natural lighting that may cause the video to appear unrealistic and unprofessional.
• When there, we will take pictures, and will take a look at the facilities that are available to us. This will the be discuss teachers, and then decide how realistic the idea of the location will be. If the idea will be agreed we will be able to meet with people involved in the video and decide the best way that the video would look in relation to the size of the room an classroom fixtures. We must also be aware that the room may not be approved, if this is the case other rooms may have to be provisionally looked at, in case they become back ups for us to use. These include school areas fixtures and other rooms that we would be able to hire, of which we have already started to research upon.

Reflection Post - NC

• I have learnt so far that the narrative of the video is a key aspect in order for the video to be successful. Every idea needs justifying, and the more research carried out with regards to the narrative is better in order to make it work. For example, when viewing the video  'Ellie Goulding - Burn' the narrative of a party on a runway was extremely clear from the start. This is something we would like to replicate, to ensure the message of our video is put across extremely clear. This would mainly be done via my research and planning, when looking at videos that correspond to the chosen genre, I would be able go gain a clearer understanding of the plans needed to ensure that the idea looks as realistic as possible.

• I also believe that a more in depth post about our target audience is something we should consider in order to really define the niche market we are looking at aiming our video towards.This would mean, that research would be conducted in order to attract our desired audience. Using websites such as UKTribes I would be able to have a better understanding about what the interests/ hobbies of the market are, and would therefore be able to add it to the work I am producing.

• With in the next week, we need to refine the words used in our 25 word pitch, to ensure the video we want to create is clear to the audience so they get a realistic representation of the idea we have. This must be approved by both teachers and peers, as the pitch gives the audience a realistic
• idea of the type of video that I am planning to create. Using a refinded choice of vocabulary will mean that the type of video will be clear to the audience, who would be fimialr with the format that I am creating, with the support of imagery - a clear picutre would be created.

•  Also want to go and visit the location we are thinking of hiring for the music video, and seeing whether it will realistically work and not make it more difficult. This will then determine whether we have to change our idea, or whether we can find elsewhere to hire, in order to pull off the same effect.

Reflection Post - SP

During the course of last week I was able to understand the main conventions of the type of music video that we are attempting to create. While researching/ exploring videos that follow a similar genre, narrative convention and/or theme I was able to see how certain elements would fit into the video that would soon be created. This was crucial, was we needed to ensure that these elements would be completed/ found in order for us to progress further.

In addition, we are now able to both work around a schedule that we feel is achievable and approved by teachers. We now have a song/ plot/ narrative of the video we are creating, with appropriate plans to make sure that the video will soon take place. This will mainly be done via research and planning, including viewing perspective filming locations meeting up with the people involved. This means that we are able to feel good about and happy with our work without the feeling of self doubt, although we are aware that support and guidance is given and can be requested if needed.

In order to progress onto the next part of the course, we need to make all necessary improvements suggested/ commented by the teachers. Once marked, we will be able to update previous posts with as much detail as possible in order for us to achieve the highest possible standard of work. We must plan our time to ensure that everything is completed within the next deadline, while refining posts regarding audience and the purpose/ plan of the video, as well as ensuring that the work we have completed so far is at the best possible standard.

Furthermore, we have found that pre-planning the work that we plan to complete, it important. This gives us a clear understanding of the work that we plan to do in the given amount of time. It also ensures that our organisational skills are at the best standard, as we have found that this is key before filming begins. Adding reflection posts and posts suggesting ideas of what work we plan to do, will help us manage time effectively as well as ensuring that our idea is more refined and helping to give us a clearer idea of how well we can manage the proposed music video idea.

Playlist

Artist Development - Clothing and Appearance

In order to create a realistic artist, research and planning would need to be conducted in order from the person to appear believable and relatistic for the audience watching.

Appearance:

Defining both Birdy and Billie-White as an 'indie pop' artist, reasearch has proved that little make-up would be needed in order to match the conventions of a simialr music video that we are planning to create.
When looking at images of Birdy, it seems that photos have been produced to give an 'natural' look; there heavy amounts of focus on certain parts of the her apperance and facial features. For example, in a picture found online the artists cheekbones have been define and highlighted, in order from them to be the forefront of the picture and grab the audiences attention.When comparing the similarities between the our chosen artist (Billie-White) and Birdy we found that they both supported the same facial appearance as well as their overall image. Conducting researching into the existing artist, we had found that many of the photos supported the theme of 'natural beauty'.

Because our model is very similar to Birdy (in terms of appearance) it means we have little worry we producing our video. Throughout research, I have found that certain elements of a person's appearance can be highlighted through lighting/ shading or relying on the style of makeup that is applied (pallets, colour choice etc.)

Choice of Clothing:

Similar to the artists appearance, Birdy supports very basic styled clothing. The range varies between a formal approach to vintage/ indie clothing genre. This is based on mise en scene, and the meaning and focus of a particular lyric or song, through research we have found that choosing the right clothing is important as it givens that audience a clear representation of the artist or song that they are listening to.

Using the internet, we were able to search through many high-street stores and vintage boutiques that we thought  sold a realistic and affordable type of clothing/ outfit that would look similar to an existing artist that is continuously appearing in the music industry.

When looking at the type of clothing that both Birdy and the target market wore, we found that many of the outfits where basic and either consisted of dresses, printed items of clothing (leggings/shirts) and basic knitwear an shoes.

Many of these can be found online, meaning that we not restricted to where we can find clothing, if we feel that it does not fit the mise en scene of the music video we have created. Attempting a basic/ natural look also allows the audience to focus on the song/ lyrics rather than the appearance of Billie White. A convention that was found in many music videos of the same genre, giving at a realistic sense/ theme for the audience watching.

25 Word Pitch

 Our first attempt at the 25 word pitch:



  

                   





 This is our second and final attempt at our 25 word pitch.

Inspiration

The main element we drew out from this advert was the style and focus on dance. We feel dance has a way of expressing emotion, and is something in which would compliment an indie-pop styled ballad. The types of shot used with in this advert is something we would like to recreate, as it really symbolises the art of how aesthetically pleasing dance is.

 



The concept of dance and the meaning the lyrics have in relation to the video is something we would like to include when creating the narrative within our video. We believe a strong narrative in relation to the lyrics of the song give a video purpose and a more significant meaning.





This video which includes dance is an inspiration with how the music video is edited together. We feel that regardless of the factor that the dance performed in this video is not the same style as we would like to portray in ours, it still gives us ideas of how to put the final piece together, after shooting everything.





The shots used in this video are intriguing, and really capture the aesthetic and beauty of movement within the dance routine. We feel like this is something we could interpret and develop to make the emotion of the dance in our video stand out, and have an effect on the audience. The setting of this video is also something we are looking into for our location, as it is simplistic and completes the overall aesthetic.





Regardless of this video being more uptempo and a different genre, the concept of this video being solely focused on the dance is what makes this video stand out. Not only that, but the video is also edited to black and white which is something we would like to include within our music video. We would like to do this because we feel it creates a more simple picture, and allows the audience to feel more emotion, rather than having to take in the colour, which could change the whole atmosphere through analysis.






We found this dance from a film from the 80's and would like to replicate camera shots as well as format and order. We also like the location in which this is filmed, and is something we would like to look into using in the music video we produce.







The emotion within this video is created through the tempo of the song, and the camera angles used. This is an effective way of putting across emotion, and is something we would like to look into doing for our music video.

Audience Profile

(Source: UKTribes.com)

In order to attract a specific target market that would be attracted to the artist that we had created, UK Tribes had allowed us to conduct in depth research in order to find the most appropriate and realistic type of tribe that would be interested in/ attracted to the type of music that Billie-White would be producing.

Young-Alts are a tribe known to express themselves through music, art and fashion, which is why we believe that all three are of equal importance. The music being the song choice, the art being the dance, and the fashion being the vintage styled look.

Due to the tribe having an equal split between sexes, it makes it crucial that we conduct more research to ensure we are able to know how to appeal to males as well as females through our artist. This could be done through merchandise, or styling of album colours being neutral, rather than tailored to one sex.

Our artist would produce unique songs, due to the fact that individuality is a key element of being a part of the Young-Alts tribe. We would also ensure that however simplistic we make Billie-White look, we will do our best to ensure she is differently styled from the other tribes such as Townies and trendies, as this isn't the image we wish for her to portray.

Name: Ellie Bainbridge

Age: 21

Interests: Fashion photography, textile designing, watching Rom-Com films, singing and contemporary ballet.

Biography: Ellie is currently finishing her last year at London University of the Arts studying Fashion photography. She has a part time job working in a large John Lewis department store. Ellie enjoys shopping, creating her own fashion line, and hopes to develop her skills into a future career of working within the fashion industry.

Types of Music Video

Concept

Concept videos tend to have no story line and/or relation to the lyrical content of the song. The imagery exhibited is usually surrounded by one idea, but the audience have no idea what is going on.

There are two types of concept video:

Thematic - based around a theme (dependent on genre) for example if it was rap there would be images and videos of streets.

Symbolic - montages of clips, images, videos etc which have meaning that connects. These suggest mood, emotion and feeling, which tend to contradict lyrical meaning.

Advantages of concept video:

• They can be very creative

• They are unique/memorable

Disadvantages of concept video:

• Can come across as strange, misleading or weird

• If the artist isn't present in the video then it will not promote their identity

Narrative 
Within this type of video, there are different types of narrative.

Amplification - The narrative may be slightly influenced by the lyrical content it uses

Illustration - This is where the narrative links directly to the lyrics

Disjuncture - This is where the narrative holds very little relationship with the song, and holds a random meaning.

Advantages of a narrative video:

• They can empathise with the artists emotion, which tress to create a relationship between the artist and the audience. 

• A simple plot makes a video more interesting to the audience.

Disadvantages of a narrative video:

• They can be expensive for the record label to produce

• If the narrative is unclear it can leave the audience confused wondering what the message was

Performance 
Performance videos are centered around the artist. They are used as a platform to sell the artist in the market, and are common in pop and rock genres.

Advantages of performance video:

• Cheaper to make

• Not much thought

• Self promotion

Disadvantages of performance video:

• Generic and boring

• Lack of creativity

Artist Comparison

When picking the desired person to appear in our music video, a decision was based on appearance, how they would be perceived on camera and how they would fit the chosen music genre.

We found it easier to base our chosen artist/ model (Katie) around a existing 'indie/pop' artist, Birdy. As a alternative artist, they most heavily followed conventions the idea of 'natural beauty'. When watching and analysing her music videos, we had found that many of them featured the artist to be supporting little make up and basic styled clothing. To find out whether this was just one specific artist we explored other music videos/ artists of the 'indie/pop' genre and found that the basic/ natural followed and proving to be a followed convention of the alternative/pop music genre.
When designing Katie's appearance in relation to Birdy research has proved at, although in some music videos the element of natural beauty was key, make-up and clothing suiting the artist would have to be used. However, the type of makeup used also would depend on the type of song that we are attempting to replicate. When researching, we found that songs based on love/breakup supported heavy facial highlight/ focus connoting the emotion of the artist and song itself. However, in other upbeat songs - the focus was rather on eyes and hair, suggesting that the overall appearance was worked on rather than individual features.
This would all be considered when creating our song/ music video. Considering the mise en scene. We found that many make up issues can be fixed due to shading and lighting, as well as allowing ourselves to develop our skills in order to make sure that music video conventions must be followed in order for the video to appear realistic and pleasant to watch.

When looking at the type of clothing that the Birdy wears in comparison to Katie, much of it is simple, and would be easy to find - if needed. Looking at the photographs provided, it seems that much of Birdy's clothing is simple. vintage and unique - something that is used to represent the type of music she is producing and the conventions of the music genre that must be followed. Many of these can now be found in high-street stores as well as boutiques in main shopping centres (Leicester), this means the ease to find new clothing is not restricted, living and studying close to main shopping centres means it is easy to find new clothing's from stores and online, that would be worn by Katie in order for her to look similar to Birdy.

Finally, it must be noted that the artist we have chosen must be confident and happy to be in front of the camera, we found that Katie had already preformed in front of others - which proved prefect for the music video, this means it would appear much more professional and unique rather than being staged, which overall helps to attract the perfect target audience.
Finally, dedicating time and effort from all members involved would be key for a successful video.

Artist Profile: Billie White

• Name: Billie-White
• Age: 18  May 1996
• Occupation: Singer/ Songwriter
• Biography: Billie-White (born 16 September is a British singer/songwriter. From 4 years old, Billie was heavily influenced towards a variety of music. Over time, her musical talents have progressed allowing her to develop her niche style of music that thousands of people have fallen in love with. Her debut single saw great success and allowed Billie to gain a fan-base as well as global popularity. In April 2012 her initial album gained thousands of unpredictable downloads/ purchases, reaching number one in five countries, including the UK. Her current untitled album has been rumored to be released in Winter 2014

Social Network

We created a Twitter Feed for our female artist Billie-White, as a method of creating a fan base. As the music video production begins and progresses, this feed will be updated with images and tweets as a way of tracking our progress.

Examples of Other Texts

The reason as to why we have posted two of Birdy's previous music videos is because they both capture different concepts which we would like to transfer into our music video, without completely copying them. These videos are usual watches and have helped us build our vision for our music video, due to it being the same music artist and the same style of music as the song we have chosen.



This very simplistic video of Christina Perri's song Human is an inspiration for us, as we believe she carries the emotion through her music video with in the level of simplicity it endures. We feel that this is a great example of an 'easier' styled and produced music video can still really work and carry a professional aesthetic the entire duration.

We found this video of Paloma Faith inspiring, because it uses elements of both narrative and performance, which is something we wish to include in our music video. It is simplistic in many ways, however we realise that we don't have the budget to ensure we would have access to the mise en scene which this video uses.



Emeli Sande's video 'Clown' is another simplistic ballad styled music video, containing elegance and emotion. This type of character is something we want our artist to have throughout the music video to 'Standing In The Way Of The Light'.

Next To Me includes the piano and a band which is a convention we would like to include in our music video. The location of this music video is also something we would like to look into further, as we believe it has multiple use and would be extremely useful.

Mood Board

Mood Board

 

Chosen Song

Birdy - Standing In The Way Of The Light

We chose this song for many reasons, one of which being a mutual interest in the music artist. Birdy's song 'Standing In The Way Of The Light' is an indie-pop styled ballad with piano as the primary instrument used to produce the track. 

This song starts off slow, and builds speed and develops power throughout which is why we feel this song is appropriate to make an 'emotional' contemporary dance style music narrative video. We feel that we could make a video such as this work due to having access to the right facilities and people necessary. We also believe, due to the fact that there hasn't been a video created for this song as yet, we could interpret the lyrics in any way we wish, which gives us a more diverse way of approaching this project. 

Our Genre

The genre of our song 'Standing In The Way Of The Light' is a part of the indie pop genre. The artist who in which originally sings the song (Birdy) is classified with in this genre, and is someone whom we wish to portray with Billy-White. We believe she is the 'perfect' artist which sums up indie pop, due to her vintage fashion style, talent for playing multiple instruments, and emotional song lyrics which contain uptempo beats throughout the song.

The vintage styled fashion way of dressing is simplistic, which is the whole orientation of our video. Therefore we believe that this element of the genre is something that is complimented by our song choice. We also believe that artists who also correspond with this genre (For example: Emeli Sande, Paloma Faith and Gabrielle Aplin) have clean similarities, and there is no huge distinctive difference in the type of music they produce and how their image is projected through the industry.

The pop genre is known for using the notion of looking as a convention, which is something that indie-pop steers away from in every aspect. Artists that are known for being 'pop' tend to use their image as a sales market when their music isn't at its best in the charts, whereas indie-pop artists continue to tour and write their own music. This in the past has linked with the making of their own one episode documentary which airs on MTV.

A significant correlation between artists in the music industry within this genre is the simplicity at which the artists are represented. This links well with regards to the videos that are produced for their songs. There is a constant simple setting and simple narrative, concept or performance throughout, and there is never too much on a screen. In the present day other genres tend to go a little over the top with the amount of things that are put in music videos, the amount of merchandise they produce for sales, as well as the length of tours they go on globally is significantly larger than those of the indie-pop genre, due to it having a more niche market than the mainstream pop or rock genres.

The indie pop genre is mainly associated with bands such as The Smiths, so therefore by having a solo artist it makes our artist significantly different to what's already on the market. Hereby meaning that we are creating an even more niche market with in the industry. This could result in meaning that conventions will be something we need to stick to, in order to capture the attention of the market we are trying to address.