Location Shots

For the creation of our Music Video, my group decided that we wanted to use a setting that had a bar and a stage. This represents our genre of music very well.
This kind of setting is easy for a narrative type video and will be easy for us to portray a music video that contains a rehearsal performance. This was very important to us when we though about creating our video.

To the left, is a picture of the bar that we have booked to use when filming our music video. This bar is perfect as it is red, which symbolises the colour of passion, and our artist is very passionate about her music. This is also a very conventional colour to suit our genre.
To create some shots, we will have our main artist sitting on the bar performing, so she isn't on the stage the entire video.
This bar is a very well decorated and lit bar, which will make it look more beautiful on camera.

This is a staging area from a different room but the same Social Club. We have decided to use this area for our artist's rehearsal performance in the music video.

This will be a good stage to use as it is very spacious, so the main artist and her backing singers and dancers will be able to also be on the stage.
In front of the stage is a main floor, which will provide more space for the dancers and singers to perform if need be.
As well in the music video, we would like to include some instrumentalists, this is a big enough space to accommodate for them.

As well as the Social Club, we have decided to use the inside of a black taxi, to film some scenes from our music video. This will be a very effective setting for a few shots, as previous Soul artists have used a black cab as a location and it really suits the genre. The fact that the seats are dark and matches the conventions of the Soul genre. Whilst I am sitting in the taxi, I am going to be surrounded by multicoloured balloons which will go against the norms of this particular genre of music. This particular idea, fits into the lyrics that Paloma Faith sings, when she refers to the different colours in her room, so the audience feel that perhaps they are in the artist's world when watching the music video.



Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Brand Identity

Below are some ideas of possible fonts that we can use for our Digipak and publicity photos that are featured in our advertisement side of the Coursework.

Font Name: Vanessa

This is one of the choices of font that we could use on our Digipak and Advert work. This is would be an effective font to use as the lettering that is used suits our genre. Also our inspirational Soul artist Paloma Faith is seen as artistic and unique, so this font portrays that. Our artist is female and this particular font can be seen as 'girly'.

Font Name: Monbijoux

This is another font option that we have for our publicity photos and Digipak. This is also another effective font as the lettering really resembles the artist's characterstics. She is a very artistic person, and in the music video will be wearing tattoos, so this font symbalises her creative side very nicely.

Font Name: Eminent

This is our final option for the range of fonts that can be used. This one is also an idea that could possibly work as the letters are in bold, which could represent the personality of our artist and how important her music is to her. This could also show to the audience that she is not overshadowed when it comes to her musical career.This font has less detail compared to the others but it is still an option for us.

When creating our publicity photos, we had to consider the brand identity of the artist, in this case Veronica Summer. We have to take into account her image such as costumes, props and make-up while she is on camera.


The image of the main artist is essential to the creating of the music video. There are lots of elements to take into consideration, the costumes that she will be wearing, the props that she comes into contact with and the make-up that can be seen throughout.
Our artist will have a number of tattoos on her body, to symbolise her creative and artistic side. The different designs that she has, also show to the audience that she is open minded and this is also relevant in her music.

-tattoos
-red lipstick
-back combed hair
-black heels
-skinny jeans
-little black dress
-vintage patterned dress

When it came to actually the filming the footage, we adapted some of the tattoos that the main artist had, instead of the skull tattoo that we had originally planned we designed a variety of different other styles that are also effective to the genre of our music video. The tattoo designs were a bow, heart with a banner through the middle creating a more creative artistic style of the artistic, smaller hearts on the neck and also a small daisy chain around the wrist, which emphasises the glamorous side of the female artist. 

When it gradually became closer to the filming that we did, we decided that instead of my hair being definitively backcombed, if it was curled and slightly backcombed afterwards it would look more effective. When we did filming outside in Nonsuch Park, I made the decision to have my hair less curled as we realised that my hair would be blown by the natural wind anyway. This also gave the artist a slight change in the image, which makes the music video more interesting to watch and reduces the chance of viewer fatigue. Below is a contact sheet of the tattoos that I did have on while I was shooting the music video.

These images are successful as they display the tattoos very well, and with the main artist wearing a black corset, it conveys the Soul genre that is a huge influence of her life.
Also the majority of the designs of the tattoos are in black which also symbolises the genre of the music.
The costume that she is wearing (black corset and skinny jeans and black heels) could perhaps make the audience seem that she is confident with her appearance and could perhaps give off a sense of glamorousness.



The vintage dress is worn when I am filming in the Bar location. The lighting that is used on the bar matches the design of the dress which creates a strong colour scheme to follow for the duration of the music video. When discussing locations we used a variety that differ from each other, so that the viewer can see a change in scenery and will reduce the opportunity for viewer fatigue. 

Planning posts - checking your progress Oct 16th SJA

WWW:
- Excellent work also on 'Concepts' post - very well thought through, genuine interest in your task really shines through on this post
- Your 'Roles' posts also shows careful consideration of what each group member will do, and the specific contributions you will be making
- I think your choice of artist and song is really great - and I am excited about what your group comes up with. Make sure you really capitalise on your musical ability Kayleigh - this is YOUR perfect project to shine!!
EBI
- Kayleigh.......... I am concerned that osts that needed to be finished by now for 'Planning' are missing???
- Where is your work for the greeen screen / final cut technical tutorials? What about the photoshop work / CD cover design you worked on in lessons last week? I've seen it on Cameron's blog - the image of you as the artist is excellent - and really suited to your genre - GET THIS ON YOUR BLOG KAYLEIGH!!!!!!!!!
- Cameron has a brilliant post in his blog for 'Lyrics Annotation' - why is this missing from yours?
Improve your 'Technical Tutorials' posts by providing a written (or verbal) explanation of how you used the green screen and final cut - and your thoughts about how you could include these in to your own music video
- Likewise with the CD cover design post - again you need written explanation about what you did, why you chose that image, and how it works for your genre...


Overall assessment of 'Planning' so far: unfortunately.... it has to be IN (Improvement Needed) as there's too many posts missing again Kayleigh.

Try to stay on top of it to avoid putting yourself through all the grief of last minute rushing. To reach the top of Level 4 (which is what you are certainly aiming for) you really need to show creativity, innovation, imagination and ICT technical flair for every post. The 'Planning' section of your blog really should provide you with loads of opportunities to demonstrate all of these things. You must get yourself up-to-date again.

Assessment 10th October JIN

Kayleigh,
 I can see you have really attempted to catch up on the research posts of your blog.
There are lots of good visuals here- sometime I think you could do more than add in an image. Perhaps you could experiement with technology and use JING or Video your responses?
I still need to see  Post 10 & 11 your application of theory to videos from your genre.
Post 18- Adverts - There is only one here. You need three.
Post 17 Record Labels- This could be further developed with some imagery.
Post 13 Mood board from your Genre- Have you done this?

For you to get a really high coursework grade we need to see:
Lots of images posted in innovative ways
Detailed analysis using connotation and lots of Media Langauge.
I know you can do this Kayleigh.
Overall your progress is GOOD. Lets get to VERY GOOD! JIN

Image Annotation

We wanted our artist that we chose to be a mixture of similar artists in the same genre. This makes Paloma Faith perfect. In my eyes, she is a mix of both ends of the Soul spectrum combining both Amy Winehouse and Duffy. Although Paloma Faith has a very whacky and unique style, she is no Lady Gaga. We would perhaps combine the image for our main artist from both styles of Amy Winehouse (with the tattoos) and Duffy (with the little black dress, to make her look classy and glamorous).
Although Paloma Faith is a soul singer, we will add a slightly more convential image to our artist so she is recognised as a Soul artist.

Above I have annotated the main features of the artist of inspiration, so we have a clear indication about what elements to add to our main artist and perhaps what her image should be based around.


In our music video, we would like our main artist to be have an image of a mixture of all the artists in the GIF I have created. We would like to use fake tattoos to symbolise her artistic side which is represented by Amy Winehouse, then we would like the dress and fashion sense of the Soul singer Adele, and the unique style of Paloma Faith.
We have to use Paloma Faith as an inspirational artist, as she is the artist of our choice.

Concept

Our main concept that we had to focus on was the performance of the main artist. We were exploring the idea of the artist in a bar perhaps performing some simple and classy dance moves with a structured story to follow. Of course none of this is certain. An idea that was ver intelligent, was to have the music video as a practice performance for the main artist, instead of a real life audience involved in the video. This will emphasise the love and passion for their music that all musicians share, and perhaps the image of the performer not so crucial.

IMAGE: To the left is the exact dress that the main artist will be wearing when it comes to performing in the music video. This dress is perfect, it is black which is a convention of our genre, but also if you look closer, there are tattoos on it as the design so it matches what we were hoping to achieve in image.

The dress must stand out and look good on the performer, as it defines who the artist is and this is very important in the making of a music video.

It is also important that my backing dancers and singers have the right look when performing. They need to also feed into the conventions of a Soul genre. We have decided to have the males in black suit which then matches the little black dress, and the backing singers to be wearing something floral that perhaps looks like a prom dress.
The dresses that are in the picture to the right are dresses that Katie owns so we won't have a lot of trouble getting those. The suit that is in the picture is very smart and is also black meaning that the dancers and the artist will be as one in the music video.

SETTING: We have come to the conclusion that a bar or club type venue will be perfect for us to use when filming for our music video.
As we have the idea of the music video performance to be a practice performance, a bar will be the perfect venue. Below is a picture of our chosen location.

This is an image of the bar that we are using to recreate our own version of a music video. We will use this bar, for the main artist to sit/pefrom on instead of having her situated on the stage through the entire music video. This is an easy way that viewer fatigue can be prevented.

Lyrics Annotation

Above is a video that we created as a group displaying the lyrics of our chosen song that we have read and annotated. A soundtrack of our song that we are doing a music video on has been added underneath so the audience can read the lyrics and hear the song at the same time.
We analysed the music video, so that when it came to reproducing our music video, we had an idea of what shots would work well with which lyrics.
We also discussed the main artist in the video, so we knew how to portray our artist in a similar and yet at the same time in a different way.

Song Details

This is the song that we have selected to do for our A2 Media Studies music video. This is a real reflection of the Soul genre song that we were thinking about when it came to our Initial Ideas.
Paloma Faith was chosen as our artist, because she has the perfect image and her music is a mixture of different but similar artists such as Duffy and Amy Winehouse.
Her style is known to be very unique and quite out there, so for the music video that we are creating we will need to tone down her image for our artist, but her music and her image is a real inspiration to us.
This song was written by Paloma Faith and was never released on her album. This was incredibly lucky for us, as we needed to choose a British artist with a song that had never been released, so had no music video already.

Technical Tutorials

This is a video that we created with the Green Screen. We are all featured in the video but have different roles. I am the main artist singing 'Set Fire to The Rain' by Adele, Katie is to the left of me playing piano, and Cameron is behind playing the drums. We had to perform one verse and one chorus so the video was not too long.
This was a practice before we go ahead and recreate the music video for our chosen song for our A2 Media Studies.
To create this video, we set up the Green Screen in our Media Studies classroom and all helped out filming each other's. There were three video cameras situated in front of the classroom which the performing band were facing. One camera was the film the main artist, the second the accompanying instrumentalists and the third any other members of the group or the singer and instrumentalist in one shot.
Once we had finished filming our practice video, we used the programme Final Cut, to upload what we had created and to edit the work we wanted to keep. Instead of using the Green Screen as the backdrop behind the performers, we imported a picture of New York City with natural lighting from various buildings to create a more interesting music video.

Above are two draft CD covers that were created to show what kind of work we could produce for our Final Cd cover, after we create our A2 Music Video.

They belong in the genre of Soul and the main artist is a female. When it comes to our final piece of our CD cover, we will use the same image as we have done here. In each picture, the lighting is slightly different with more concentrated lighting used in the second one.

As the artist is looking straight at the camera, this is an effective publicity shot. The background matches the artist and the genre in which she fits into. Both fonts from either picture can be seen as bold, as they stand out and mean that the audience notice the writing as well as the main image in the frame.

The posture of the artist is effective, as there are a limited amount of publicity photos with the artist laying down or tilted from the camera. This is a very well composed shot as although the artist is in the centre of the screen, there are music books surrounding her, which could portray to the artist her influences and her passion for music.

This is all the draft CD covers that were created for the same artist, each containing a different album name.

Roles

To make a music video successful, you need a range of people involved that are responsible for different elements of the creation. This is what we have in our group and will be explained below.

Katie Lee

This is Katie. She will be taking the role of a cinematographer and the main editor in post production with the help of Cameron and I. This is a very good role for her, as she is great behind the camera and her editing skills are excellent.
As well as this, she is our main Locations manager which entails her to contact owners of various locations and get permission for us to use their facilities.
When it comes to the main artist (me), she is going to also be in charge of my style. Trying out a variety of hairstyles and clothes that make up my image in the video. This is vital as we need it to meet the conventions of our genre which is Soul.

Cameron Roberts

This is Cameron. He will be assisting Katie and I in the editing of post production and will also too be behind the camera filming various shots. His main role however, will be to cast actors in our music video to act as the main artist's backing dancers. It is very important that these people are selecting carefully as we need the perfect Soul 'look' for our music video. We need 4 or 5 male dancers and 2 or 3 backing singers to support the artist.
Also he will be in charge of props, so obtaining various items that will be featured into our music video(with the help of me).

I will be performing as the main Soul artist in the music video. That means that my main role before any shooting begins is to learn the lyrics of the selected song, practice my performance as it has to be perfect and go over and rehearse any dance moves that are evident in the song. This is an essential role as the music video needs to look professional and we need people to want to watch it and enjoy it when they do, so having a good performance by me is vital.
I will be first in charge of sourcing any costumes that I think may be worn by myself or perhaps the dancers or backing singers. As a group we have discussed maybe investing into some temporary tattoos for me to wear, just to give me that essential Soul genre 'look'.
To make sure I am always developing as a Media Studies student, I will be given the opportunity to set up and film various shots so that I am improving my practical skills in the subject.

Initial Ideas

Our initial ideas have been recorded in a discussion that we had about all the elements of our music video, whether that be about the image of the main artist, location of the shoot for the video or the song that is going to be featured in our music video.
When it came to editing the video of our Initial Ideas, cutaways were added so that the audience do not just witness us having a conversation, and they can see how we planned out what was said in the discussion.
We didn't script the conversation so the Initial Ideas that were written on the board were just for us to keep in mind about what we should mention and highlight in the music video. I think this works and is very effective.

Research into Genre Questionaire

This is the Questionnaire that we created on a website called Survey Monkey. This is an effective Questionnaire as it gets perfect answers from the people that took the survey, and made making our Soul music video very easy as we now know exactly what our target audience would like.
We included a mixture of open and closed questions to get the best from our audience, the open questions gave them a chance to pinpoint exactly what they'd like to see in our music video, and the closed questions were a simple way to get short answers.

Results from our Questionnaire

Below, are two graphs that I produced using the survey that Cameron, Katie and I created on Survey Monkey. 

What genre of music do you like listening to?

This is a chart that responds to the question 'What genre of music do you like listening to'. I thought this was a relevant question, as it was useful to see how popular the genre of Soul was, as this was the genre that we would base our music video on.
As you can see it was fairly popular but the most listened to genres are Rock and Pop.
Perhaps, when we create our music video that is in the Soul genre, when people listen to it, they may become a fan of the style of music and want to listen to it more frequently.


This graph below shows the features that are current in a variety of music videos, so we asked our audience which of these listed below did they expect to see in a Soul music video.
Backing singers, Glamorous females and Low key lighting were the most popular. So to target our audience well, it is important that we try and include these features in our music video for it to be a success. As you can see, the options that have the smallest segment would be found in other genres of music videos and not necessarily Soul.

Our attempt at Publicity Photos.

Soul Genre

This is a contact that shows our attempt at producing publicity photos that fit into the Soul Genre. This is the genre that we want to focus on when creating our music video.
We took a few shots, but the six to the left are the best composed photographs. The photos that we took match the photos that match our genre, which shows that we have learnt from our research into our chosen genre.
This task was very helpful, as when it comes to shooting our A2 Media music video, we will be more confident in using the camera and I will be more comfortable in front of the camera being filmed.

Rock Genre

This contact sheet shows publicity photos that we  created to match the Rock genre. As you can see from the shots, we used a totally different location from the ones above, as it is a different genre of music. The idea to use a male character was effective as this gives a completely different image from the shots in Soul, creating a more scary sinister mood with the dark lighting and stronger poses. 

As you can see from the contact sheet, we used a different range of camera shots, close ups to mid shots but never long shots. We wanted to see the main artist fairly close to the camera, connecting to the audience. 

What makes a good Publicity Photo?

The idea of a publicity photo is for the artist to be shown rather than heard and for their album to look good so that it sells effectively. Listed below are the main elements to consider when producing a publicity photo.

1. Recognisable image. This is crucial when creating a publicity photo, as the artist wants to stand out from the crowd and needs to be noticed. If the artist has a recognisable image, it is easier for their album to be sold. Amy Winehouse (above) has a very unique image, this enhances her chance of catching the audience eye and her album being bought. When you have a recognisable image that is related to your character, it is much easier to relate the particular publicity photo to this artist.

2. Lighting. This can be used to perhaps emphasise a particular feature of the artist, maybe highlight the eye colour of the individual or exaggerate the colour of the lips. In the picture of Jessie J (left) the lighting is used to be a direct contrast of her hair, which is effective. Lighting can also be used in a way to make the particular person appear to be more attractive than perhaps they are without the lighting on them. Also in this example, her skin is seen to be 'perfect' as all signs of natural causes are covered up making her seem beautiful. The black nail varnish against the well lit pale skin is another contrast and yet again is also effective.

3. Costumes. It is essential that the costume of the artist in their publicity photos match the genre of their music and the character of the individual. This is sometimes seen as the most important feature of a publicity photo, as this is the main focus of the image. Costumes can also be linked to recognisable image, as if an artist is known for wearing a particular item of clothing they will wear this and become instantly recognised for this. In the image above (Olly Murs) he is wearing an everyday t-shirt which does not look expensive. This could mean he is inspiring the younger generation to dress like him. The clothes he is wearing matches his genre of pop music with ease.

4. Posture. The way an artist positions themselves within the frame is important, they want this to be flattery meaning they can look the best that they can. As well as this, the individual wants to set a good impression to the audience about the character that they possess. In the example of Tinie Tempah (left) he stands up straight with his hands crossed in front of his chest, while he looks into the camera. This draws your attention to his face straight away as his eyes draw the viewer in. The fact that he is standing up straight show that he is proud of his music and considers himself to be a top artist in his particular genre. He has a serious expression on his face meaning that he takes his work seriously and does the best that he can.

5. Camera angle to create status. This helps with the overall effect of the photo on the audience. A low angle shot is used to convey to the viewers that these boys that make up the band McFly (right) have a high status and that their music is very popular. That means that to their fans they are seen as powerful artists as they can produce good songs and can be seen as a threat to perhaps other artists in the same genre. The natural light of the sun behind the boys, is used to light up the faces of the band, making them look more attractive and more appealing to perhaps someone who could buy the album. The shot with the sun in the background could also give the boy's a gentle looking image.



Other features that make a good publicity photo are:
-Flattering lighting
-Recognisable image
-Colour conventions to the genre
-Camera angle to create status
-Costume
-Posture
-Facial expressions that match the genre
-Background suitable to the genre and does not overshadow the artist
-Flattery in post production.

Research into Theories

 

Assessment 2nd October (Research)

Kayleigh

WWW:
Some effective analysis here with a clear attempt to highlight the conventions specific to your genre.
Some good use of Media language that has been applied appropriately.
EBI:
Try to really explore the use of technology in making your posts interesting- can you use JING with your comments over the top of a video or even film yourself making an evaluation.
I also see you have still all the audience research and the application of theory to upload. Please see me if you need any help on completing this work as unfortunately this Assessment must state your work needs IMPROVEMENT. You have until Friday 7th October.
JIN

Analysing 3 CD Covers for the Soul Genre

Lemar;
This album cover fits into the genre of Soul music as it features many of the stereotypical conventions.
The lighting that is used is low key with little lighting on the artist's facial features. Lemar is left in the dark. He is also completely dressed in black which is a common convention to Soul music, even in females who tend to wear dark clothing whether that be dresses or not. The predominant colours in Soul music are black/white/grey, this is a dramatic contrast from colours used in Pop music videos.
The fact that he is sitting sideways on the chair is unusual, as in publicity shots normally the artist want their face to be noticed and appreciated by their audience, so seeing half his face could perhaps convey his mysteriousness when it comes to his music.
His posture is seen to be fairly casual, this could be linked to how relaxed and lethargic he is when producing his music.

Duffy;
She fits into the same genre as Lemar which is Soul. Her album cover is similar to Lemar's with the contrasting predominant colours of black and white. In this image, the lighting is seen as quite bold, as we can clearly see Duffy's face even though she is looking away from the camera, and therefore the audience. This makes her seem like she does not have a relationship with the audience as she is not making eye contact, which could be seen as crucial when buying a CD.
Her facial expressions seem serious which could suggest that she is very passionate and works hard when creating her music. This can also be shown with her hand placed across her chest, which could be analysed as her closing herself off from all other artists and just concentrating on creating her own unique music.

Paloma Faith;
Although this artist is also in the Soul genre, her album cover does not match the conventions that the two previous artists do. By looking at her album you can see that there are obvious differences.
The colours that she uses are lot bolder/brighter portraying a happier atmosphere. Also there are objects that are placed around the main artist that perhaps take some focus off of her, which is not very effective when audience are looking to buy her CD.
A feature that all artists have in common is that they are all looking away from camera and have strong body language to match their voices and their music that they create. Her costume would not normally be associated to the Soul genre, but is effective in this publicity photo. Also the hair and the make up has been created as it is to perhaps make her look more attractive than she really is, making her sex appeal to her male fans.

Convention of music video in my Genre

The genre of the song that we have chosen to do fits into the genre of Soul. Some example of artists in this particular genre are; Duffy, Adele, Plan B, Lemar, Paloma Faith and Amy Winehouse.
The song that we have chosen to do is called Technicolour and is by Paloma Faith. The conventions of this genre are as follows;

Colour scheme;
The main colours that are used when producing a soul music video are predominantly black/white/grey and is usually consistent throughout the entire music video. The video for Paloma Faith's Technicolour these colours in the lyrics discusses s but as the song progresses brighter colours like blue, yellow and orange are represented. This is a direct contrast between songs in the Pop genre. Bright colours are usually associated with happy and colourful pop songs.



Performance;
In the soul genre, the main artist needs to act as well as sing. This can include little and simple dance moves that engage the viewer and make them want to watch the music video. Duffy is a Soul artist that uses simple dance moves surrounding by male dancers which is convential to this genre. This is an effective way to avoid viewer fatigue. This can also be seen in the image below.

Costumes;
When again discussing Duffy's performance, the costumes that are used are essential to her music video. They are a perfect match to the genre of the song. The male dancers are wearing suits which make them look very professional. Duffy is wearing a black outfit which matches the dancers but contrasts with the lighting situated behind her. Other Soul artists like Paloma Faith do not necessarily stick to the dark colours when it comes to clothing. She wears bright, controversial items of clothing and her audience may not believe that she belongs to the Soul genre when they watch her music video.

Lighting;
Whether this be low or bold lighting, it is essential in every music video. Particularly in Soul music videos, low key lighting is used to portray the ideas presented in the song. Lighting can also be used to create silhouettes which is evident in Adele's Chasing Pavements and Duffy's Rain on your Parade. Lighting is also used as a clever tool when making your main artist more attractive than perhaps they normally are. In females, usually this is done for the sex appeal.