Account of shoot days

Website analysis of artists similar to mine

Shooting Schedule

Shot by shot guide

Day 1 - The Gym 

Day 2 - The Fantasies 

Day 3 - The DJ 

Make Up

Requesting permission to use our chosen song

Changing Our Idea

Risk Assessment

Analysis of our storyboard (Variation 2)

Storyboard (Variation 2)

Our Animatic

We created our animatic by taking individual photos of each scene on our storyboard. After this we inserted them into a program called 'iMovie' and added the soundtrack to it. Creating our animatic helped us gain an insight into the way that the music and scenes work together. It allowed us to visualise our idea and narrative better, as well as how we are going to film them. Furthermore we learnt how to rhythmically cut to the beat and therefore we were able to match what was happening on the screen to the music. As well as this it also helped us to realise what camera angles we wanted to include in our music video. For example, more wide shots of the dancers exercising to cut to the beat alongside the close-ups of their routines. Moving forward we know that we need to improve on a few things, one of which is the length of the shots that we took as the shot duration was too long, as well as possibly adding another narrative strand or focus more on the DJ in the studio as this will help to enhance the video and sell the artist's image.

Feedback on our animatic:

The feedback we received was very useful in allowing us to see what mistakes we have made and therefore what we can improve on. 

Storyboard (Variation 1)

Narrative of our music video

Music videos similar to ours

Our Locations

Mood board

We decided to create a mood board that would include a range of photos to represent our music video and its narrative. In order to do this we thought about the aspects of our music video idea and searched for photos online that may represent it. 

Below is our final mood board:

Shot Choices

As a group we discussed the different shots that we wanted to use in our music video and which ones we felt would really stand out and make our video more interesting. 

Below is a table demonstrating the shots that we decided to use:

Change of song

Because we decided to change our music video idea we had to change the song in order to fit in with the new idea. Therefore we chose the song 'DJ got us fallin in love' by Usher. The lyrics in the song relate to our video because in our music video it is shown that the DJ is shooting a cupid arrow at each girl making them fall in love with the gym instructor. 

The lyrics of our song

The lyrics are vital in our music video because we will need to make sure that our actors are able to lip sync to the song whilst dancing. This can be quite difficult and therefore we are going to limit the amount of lip syncing needed by cutting parts of the song and just dancing rather than singing to the music. 

Our Chosen Song

As a group we looked at all our three options that we had narrowed down and came to a decision on what song we felt was best to use in our final music video. We decided to use the song 'Chunky' by Format B because we felt that it was a happy and light hearted song which would fit perfectly with the narrative of our music video. We also felt that it had just the right elements that we needed to make our music video fit our aim; such as the beat and lyrics together because we are aiming to have snippets of a DJ within our video, as well as being a house song and not too fast so that people will be able to dance to it in an exercise routine. 

Looking at different song choices

Looking at different workout routines

Costume, props and setting

Feedback on our idea

The feedback we received after we had presented our idea to our class proved to be very useful as we are still finalising our plans for our music video. As a group we thoroughly looked over every aspect of our idea and edited it according to the feedback we received. 

Our New Idea

After initially brainstorming several different ideas, my group and I have decided that we are going to base our music video along the lines of one of the ideas, however we made some changes to it. The idea we decided to manipulate was our third idea about the instructor coming out as gay and expressing his emotions through dance. We decided to change this idea slightly as we felt that it was too simple and similar to other music videos.

Album Cover

For this task we were given the link to an article on 'The Guardian' which allows you to create your own album cover by using a random generator. The random generator assigns you with a band name which is the title of a randomly generated wikipedia article. The article which I was randomly taken to was for Maurice Drummond, who was the longest serving deputy commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. In order to create a title I used the website 'Flaming Text' which has a range of different title fonts. 

After I had selected a band name I was given a randomly generated album title. The title that I had been given was 'I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous', which was from a list of random quotations. To create the font for the album name I used the same website as my band name title but selected a different font in order to differentiate it from my band name title. 

The final part of the task was to find an image to be the album art. Using Flickr, I was randomly generated an image of a yellow rubber duck floating in a lake. In order to make this picture look like the cover of an album, I used Microsoft Powerpoint by placing the band name and the album name on top of the flickr image and grouping them together to create one picture. 

Below is the finished result of my album cover. 

Camera and Editing techniques in Stranger Things

For this task we were shown a video which show the editing and camera techniques used in Stranger Things. We were then asked to answer the following questions on the video:

Explain what you liked and why?
In the video from Stranger Things, I liked the quick cuts and the fast paced zoom shots as they created suspense within the narrative of the video. I also liked the blurred shots as they created the idea of a horror genre.


How it can/ will influence your music video ideas.
These ideas from Stranger Things will influence our music video as the camera and editing techniques helped demonstrate the genre and narrative of the video. The Stranger Things video also gave us ideas on what type of camera and editing techniques were effective and which ones worked well.


Explain how you can integrate any of the creative ideas into you music video.
In our music video we could use some of the camera techniques used in Stranger Things such as a close up to show a person's emotions and a tracking shot to create the idea of a person being followed. We could also use some of the editing techniques such as an eye line match to show what someone is looking at and quick cuts to create the effect that time is going by fast.


Explain and evaluate how this will improve your music video and your creativity?
This will improve our music video and creativity as we can use these camera and editing techinques in our music video in order to create a more interesting and eye catching narrative. The camera and editing techniques will also help us to highlight certain parts of our music video which we would like to emphasise in order to show their importance to the narrative of our video.

Analysis of Target Audience Questionnaire

Target Audience Questionnaire

Media Theorists

Target audience for different genres

Target Audience Interview

From the feedback we received from our target audience we concluded that people of the same age have different views on how they feel about music videos. We interviewed 17 years olds and found that some people enjoy watching music videos whereas other people said that they would only watch them with friends. I also expected 17 year olds to say that pop would be their favourite genre of music, when in fact I found from my target audience interview that they prefer R&B and classical music which was surprising to me. Lastly, I found that the older generation of people that I interviewed don't watch music videos whereas the younger generation do, demonstrating how music videos are more appealing to the younger generation and therefore we should be targetting our music video at a younger audience. 

Feedback on our initial ideas

Record of initial ideas

Analysis of how a star has changed over time in music videos

Analysis of how a star has changed over time

White Lies

Synopsis is an overview of the narrative. It's a break down for the director to be able to inform the artists about their ideas when selling the product to them.

It's clear from the music video that the narrative was about a warped relationship based in East London with a couple that are young, bored and restless.

Through the use of dark colours we can get the sense for the tone of the type of artist and the music they play, and through the concrete environment we get a sense of the band wanting to take themselves seriously.

Through the use of the instruments in the abandoned warehouse, we can tell that the band is organic.

Through the narrative of loads of people working out and the use of a council estate as a backdrop, we get the sense that the band's star image is one of being edgy and anti-authoritarian. Furthermore there are intertextual references to films such a 'Clockwork Orange' and 'This is England 86', as they both feature high rise council estates.

Hurtwood House Music Video Analysis

• I like the range of shot choices that they used, especially at the beginning where they showed us close ups of all their hands. I like how they used quick cuts between the lead artist and the people spray painting in the background. They used medium close up shots a lot when focusing on the singer which I think was a good idea. I also like the location choice for the video, as I feel it fits the genre of the song very well as it is a bit mysterious and eery. 
• The narrative for the video isn't clear. I think it is about mischievous people showing their emotions through the art of graffiti. The people in the video are fighting against authority and give off a rebellious vibe. This can attract people to listen to their music as they aspire to have the same outlook on life to rebel against authority.
• The music video matches the genre really well. The genre for the song is alternative pop and this video is not normal, so it is alternative. It doesn't play on the normal ideas of role models as they are spray painting on walls and defying authority. 
• The artist's image here is clear. The artist is a rebel who likes to defy authority and do whatever she wants without a cause for concern. 

The advanced portfolio - pros and cons

The advanced portfolio is a combination of a music video, website and a digipak.

The purpose of the promotional brief in year 13 is to:

1. Sell the song, and invoke a reaction so that the audience remember the song
2. To give the audience a better understanding of the song
3. To entertain and show off the artists talents
4. To see CDs, DVDs and downloads by creating memorable visuals and build the artist's online profile
5. Marketing for the purposes of exposure and expansion of the artist's profile

The aim of the music video is ultimately to do the following:

• To promote a song which in turn promotes an album, sells an image of the artist to the audience and aims to generate money for the record company and then the artist. 

The pros of creating a music video in year 13 are:

• More freedom when choosing the genre of our song
• It can be filmed at any location because we live in London, which gives us a wider choice
• We can be more creative as we have 4 minutes rather than 2 minutes which we had for our Thriller

The cons of creating a music video in year 13 are:

• Tough to learn the lyrics for the song
• Harder to edit in time with the music
• Hard to make it not seem repetitive

Music Video Tips

Our teacher gave us some useful tips on how to make a successful music video:

• The essential idea of what we are doing is manufacturing a band for a song, and this will be that bands first release, and it is our job to make the video successful. 
• We will start with the image of the band, ensuring that their style is fit for the style of the song and that they know how to play the instruments required so they can realistically mime the track. Then we can create a concept for the video that will blend well with the music. 
• The band we are creating obviously has no fanbase, so it is up to us to get them out there via various marketing techniques and digipacks. 
• The best type of music video contains three different narrative strands, a performance element which the label think is vital as it acts as a fail save. A lip sync element, just simply singing in a situation with very few props. Lastly, a narrative element, the story, which will be led by genre and style. The music video will then consist of constant cutting between these narrative strands. This keeps the video exciting and interesting. 
• We were advised to make a 'Mood Film' or prezi which involves a set of images or a simple video to create a short film to demonstrate the ideas for the final product. This helps clarify the idea, and helps identify potential problems. 

Star image - Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer is a theorist at Warwick University who wrote a book called 'Stars' in 1978. In his book he discusses the way in which audiences engage with different well known stars. He stated that stars are a myth and are constructed in order to sell an image to an audience - in effect they are a commodity that are bought and sold on the strength of their meanings.

What he means by this is that we know a lot about a celebrity through their engagement in the media, however we know very little about their private life behind closed doors. He describes this as stars being present in our life but simultaneously absent, or in other words we think we know lots about them but we actually know very little as we are buying into an image that is either being constructed by the agencies that manage them or by the artists themselves.

Within the music industry, the following features can generally be applied to an artists image:
1) Using their sexuality to sell themselves
e.g. Kylie Minogue

2) Rebelliousness

e.g. Tupac 

3) Disregard for social norms e.g. drug taking, getting into trouble with police

e.g. Justin Bieber

4) Creativity

e.g. Lorde

5) Anti-authoritarian attitude

e.g. Sex Pistols 

6) Attractiveness to the audience

e.g. One Direction 

7) Originality

e.g. Ed Sheeran 

8) Being aspirational to the audience

e.g. Beyonce

The codes and conventions of music videos

The Promotional Brief

• A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video
• A website homepage for the band
• A cover and 4 sides including the spine for it's release as part of a digital (CD/ DVD package) 

What am I looking forward to in creating my music video and the benefits to creating it, as well as any problems I may face?

I am looking forward to creating and producing our final music video as well as promoting our music video. However, I think that we will encounter several minor issues during the promotional process such as coming up with a strong idea to use for our music video. There are also several positives about creating our music video, such as developing my filming and editing skills as well as working in a group. One of the benefits of creating our music video is that we all live in London which is a huge tourist destination full of diversity and culture, meaning we would be able to promote and sell our music video easily. However, a negative to this process would be having to create 4 minutes worth of footage, as it could become repetitive and therefore we would have to make sure that we continuously use new footage with different elements. 

Analysis of Lip Syncing task

In order for us to practise for our music video task in September, we took part in a lip syncing task where the aim was to choose a song and create a music video showing us lip syncing to the lyrics. This task would enable us to have an insight into the decisions and tasks that we will need to undertake in September such as choosing the right song, cutting to the beat, lip syncing and creating transitions between different shots. We filmed our music video by using the app 'VideoStar' on an iPhone 7. 

1) Why did we choose that particular song?

We decided to chose 'Touch' by Little Mix as it is a popular song that everyone knows the words to, which made it easier for us to lip sync. The song is also fun and energetic which is the type of feel that we were aiming for. We also wanted to choose a song from a girlband as there are 4 girls in our video so therefore it would be easier to replicate the narrative of the song. 

2) What was difficult about the lip syncing?

One thing which we found difficult about the lip syncing was keeping in time with the music. In order to do this we had to rehearse the lyrics before we filmed it to make sure that we knew our cues and what the next words to the song were. We also found it difficult to film in the time we were given as we only had 45 minutes in order to film our music video, which is considerably shorter than the time we will be given in September. 

3) How easy was it to cut to the beat?

We found it easy to cut to the beat of the song as we knew the song really well and therefore we knew the points in the song where different verses ended and new verses began. In order to cut to the beat we used different angles and filmed in different locations in order to make our shots more creative and flow better. In most music videos, the demands for record labels will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist in order to create a star image. However in our music video there is no star artist yet close ups have been used to demonstrate lip syncing. 

4) What effects did we put in the video and why?

We used a variety of different effects in our video in order to make it seem eye catching, fun and creative, as well as to explore possible effects which we could use in September. We used a range of colourful effects that we were able to apply to our music video from the VideoStar app. The use of colourful effects reflects the energetic and youthful vibe that we were aiming for in our video. 

5) What would we change/ do better if we did it again?

If we were to be able film our music video again, we would change the types of shots that we took by filming more close ups, as many of our shots are wide shots. The aim of using a close up shot is to sell the artists star image, which we feel that we could have done better if we had included more of these shots. 

6) What has it taught me about planning for the real music video in September?

This lip syncing task has taught me that when planning for our music video in September we will have to make sure that the artist knows the words to the song before filming to avoid wasting time learning the lyrics before each shot is taken. In addition, when planning our music video we should make sure that the visuals in our music video are relevant to the lyrics and narrative of the song in order to create a more intriguing music video that would captivate the audience and make them want to watch it again. This task has also taught me that we should allow ourselves plenty of time for planning as it will take time in order to come up with an exciting concept for our music video.