Costumes and props

Props
I am only using two props in my video. These are a guitar and a box. This are going to be easy to organise, as I already have both, therefore I am not relying on anyone else. The box I am going to use was also used in my digipack, therefore I am keeping details the same.


Costumes
I am going to get my performers to wear plain clothes, which has been influenced from my research into artists such as Laura Marling.

Location and Health and Safety

I am going to film at Burlish Top, which are woods in Stourport. This idea was influenced by my research into other folk artists, as they tend to use woods as their background, for example Bon Iver's video for Michicant:


This was also where I took the photographs for my digipack.


Health and Safety

Hazard	Potential Outcome	Actions to avoid outcomes
Tripping over power cables	Serious injury, cuts and bruises, electrocution	Make sure any loose wires are taped down for duration of shoot, do not bring equipment that is not needed, keep equipment out of the way of performers
Tripping over branches/ tree roots/debris (stones etc)	Serious injury: cuts, bruises, broken bones	Plan out route for performers to stick to, ensure that there are no hazards along the route, avoid any potential hazards, move any stones etc that could  become a hazard
Walking into low hanging branches	Serious injury, cuts, bruises	Plan out route for performers to follow before hand, ensure that there are not any low tress, or broken trees along route
Falling down rabbit holes, down uneven banks	Sprains, broken bones, cuts, bruises	Plan out safe route for performers to follow before shoot, check again before shooting. Stop shoot if you notice anything hazardous, e.g. damp soil can be more uneven
Getting too hot/cold	Illness	Wear suitable clothing, bring a coat just in case, keep hydrated and fed if shooting is going to take a long time

Progress

I have completed all the tasks in accordance to my time management plan. I have also undertook some more research, specifically into what folk artists tend to wear in their music videos, which helped to influence my costume planning.

http://emilywaldrona2media.blogspot.com/2011/12/planning-time-management.html

Movements/blocking

I had a cast meeting with Nicola (the main performer). I showed her my storyboard and shotlists, then we discussed how she is going to be moving around in the shots, for example when she is walking down the path. Nicola was comfortable with what I was asking her to do, and happy.

Casting

I am going to use my friend Nicola as the main role in the video. I have chosen her as I know she is very reliable. I also think that she will fit the part well, and can play guitar, so it will look more realistic than someone pretending to play the guitar.

Storyboard

Shotlist

1) Pick up guitar
2) tapping foot
3) close up of hand playing guitar
4) mid close ups of face, singing first verse
5) hand playing guitar
6) cut between until chorus
7) person walking alone along path
8) cut to two people in field
9) cut back to face for chorus
10) cut between close up and playing guitar throughout chorus
11) cut between different shots in field and close ups of face
12) walking along path
13) close up of face singing final lines
14) cut to walking, final shot mid close up as person turns around


Shooting schedule


I am going to film shots in the same setting all at the same time. This will save lots of time and enable me to film better quality material.
I am going to film shots 1,2,3,4,5,9,and 13 together, then 7,12 and 14 together, and finally 8, 10, and 11 together.

Progress

I have completed my time plan, taking into consideration how long certain tasks will take.
I have started an audience profile, but will be completing a mood board to accompany it tomorrow.



http://emilywaldrona2media.blogspot.com/2011/12/planning-time-management.html

Audience Theories

Effects theory - how does the media influence audiences?


During the 1960s, psychologists came up with the theory that the media had a direct effect on children. The used the Bobo Doll Experiment to try and prove this.
During this experiment, children would watch a video of adults hitting a doll. They were then let into the room, to see what would happen, if they would begin to attack the doll also.
However, there were a few flaws with the experiment:

• children could pick these things up from anywhere, for example, they knew what a gun looks like, this could be picked up from watching Western films, which were very popular at the time
• the doll invites the children to play with it; they would want to push it around to see how it moves
• the child knows that it is a doll, an inanimate object, just because they would be violent to the doll, it doesn't mean that they would be violent towards a person

The cultural studies approach perspective - how the audiences read the media

This theory suggests that audiences take different texts in different ways, according to what is expressed with the text. The different readings are:

• Preferred - the audience agrees with the values, and accepts them
• Negotiated - the audience understands the point being made, however they neither agree or disagree, they just go along with what is being said
• Oppositional - the audience don't agree with the values, they are not how they see the world, it is not relevant to them
• Aberrant - the audience doesn't understand the text, they don't get it and misunderstand it 

PLANNING target audience profile

Female - due to the meaning of the song, it would mostly appeal to females, however a few males may be interested, particularly those who like listening to new artists
Late teens, early twenties
Students
Likes vintage clothes, sometimes shops at Topshop - likes to be different and original
Listens to Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling and other folk artists
Can play guitar, or wants to learn
Attends festivals
Likes camping and being outdoors
Likes more alternative or new music

PLANNING time management

To help with my time management, I have used the calender on Outlook to make a time plan. This alerts you to which tasks need doing that day when you open the webmail.

PRINT PRODUCTION final piece

PRINT PRODUCTION progress

For my digipack and advert, I have used the same fonts and colours, to keep to a theme.

Initially, I was going to use drawings or cartoons, which feature on some folk CD covers, however this was difficult as we did not have the correct software. Instead, I have used photographs, which I took outside of a box. The use of trees and grass is also quite popular for folk covers.

PRINT PRODUCTION photographs

I took these photos in the woods, and I intend to use the box in the video. Instead of just using the photographs like this, I used two filters of the top: 'film grain' and 'poster edges'.

PRINT PRODUCTION initial ideas

First Drawings

PRINT RESEARCH - my digipack

I want to use photographs and drawing together for my digipack cover and adverts.
Specifically, I want to use drawings for the digipack cover, as it is used a lot for indie covers and I think it makes them stand out and look good. It would also attract the target audience, as they would be looking out for that sort of cover.

The drawing will connote loneliness and wanting, but the idea will not be anchored until you have listened to the song. This may confuse some potential listeners, however I'm hoping it will do the opposite and intrigue them, so that they will want to listen to the song and watch the video.

PRINT RESEARCH - adverts

The Killers, Day & Age

(advert, left and CD cover, right)

As you can see above, the advert for the Killers album Day & Age uses the same theme as the cover for the Day & Age album.


Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More 

This advert is quite boring, as it is only a picture of the album cover, with some writing. However, this would attract Mumford and Sons fans as they would notice the album cover and be interested, wondering what the advert is about.

The majority of indie/folk artists will have quarter page adverts, or the more successful ones would have half page. This is because they do not earn as much money as other  really famous acts, so would not be able to afford glossy, full page adverts.

Therefore, the advert for my digipack would be have to be a quarter page. This is because the artist isn't known, so would only just be able to afford quarter of the page.

My advert is going to feature photographs of the star. This will reinforce the stars images, as they will be pictures playing the guitar and singing. I will use the same font and colour scheme as the digipack cover though, this is so it is obvious that they are linked.

PRINT RESEARCH

Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More

We see the band stood with their instruments behind the glass in a shop window. It fits in to the indie/folk genre as it is simple, and featuring instruments, such as the cello. It appears very normal and everyday, but it is actually very entropic, as having the people there is really unexpected.
This cover would appeal to the target audience. Later teens and early twenties, male and female would be the targeted audience. They would like the simple, chilled cover which reinforces the stars image. They would also like indie, folk, more alternative music and the cover is really quite different.
The font, colour scheme and style of the cover all reinforce the stars image; they use the same font for all of their covers, and plain colours. The digipack cover is quite redundant for the band, as it is the sort of thing their target audience would expect. The style is carried on inside the cover, with a neat font, and delicate borders for the photographs.

Laura Marling, I Speak Because I Can

 We see a picture of a person. at first, it just looks like a photograph, however when you look at it closer you can tell that it is a drawing.

This cover would attract the artists target audience, as it stands out and looks interesting. Females are more likely to listen to Laura Marling, and I think that this cover is appealing to them, as it is quite different and pretty.

This cover seems quite entropic for Laura Marling, as she usually has abstract drawings or cartoons, such as:

All folk/indie/bluegrass artists seem to have similar CD covers, and the style is becoming more redundant than entropic, as they used to be. It is also becoming typical to have drawings, or holding instruments. Avett Brothers have used both on one of their covers:

REDUNDANCY AND ENTROPY

Redundancy what is predictable, what you expect to see.
e.g. an man driving a car

Entropy what is unusual or unexpected, not what you expect to see
e.g. a dog driving a car

Redundancy, entropy and my music video?


Considering my music video is going to be folk/bluegrass, I want to use the redundant image of guitars, and playing a guitar.
However I also want it to be entropic, so that it isn't like other conventional folk music videos. I will achieve this by having lots of different narratives within the video. I think this is really unpredictable in the folk genre, as we tend to only see the artist/band in their music videos, performing the song.
Also, I think by making the video more entropic, it would suit the target audience as it would be quite different and exciting. I don't think that they would like normal, predicable videos. For my video, the targeted audience were about 15-25 year olds, mostly female, many are university students, enjoy listening to alternative music, like playing the guitar and like to be individual.

FOLK CD COVERS

PRINT RESEARCH

Muse- Absolution cover

shadows off bodies, on the floor, repeated in a pattern. a man stood, casting his own shadow in a different direction, looking up 

connoting being different, being free? not being a part of the 'pattern'

The title of the album helps to anchor the meaning of the album cover:

'Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This concept is found in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Anglican churches, and most Lutheran churches.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolution)

The man may be asking for forgiveness, that is why he has his head tilted to the sky.

PITCH FEEDBACK - health and safety problem?

Falling over?

Several people mentioned that it would be hard to have someone falling down stairs safely, so it was suggested I could perhaps use a series of close ups to simulate someone falling over, or the person could have already 'fell over' and we see them being pulled up.

PITCH FEEDBACK

Match.com advert




Someone suggested this advert, as my pitch reminded her of this, with the small narrative and the ukulele.
This was interesting, and I decided to use a narrative similar to this one, especially as ukulele's and other similar stringed instruments are typical of bluegrass style music.



Love Actually






It was also suggested that I should watch Love Actually. This film is about lots of different people and their relationships. They are all linked together. After watching, it gave me the idea that I could link the narratives together. However, I'm not sure if that would be the best idea, as I would only have a couple of minutes, and trying to get everything to link and make sense would be hard and take up a lot of time.

PITCH FEEDBACK

'good target audience - similar to the artist and also type of song about love etc'


'literal so not that original because it uses the lyrics to create the visuals but can still be visually powerful. The multi-narrative idea is really cool though'
literal fits in with the genre


'falling sown the stairs seems quite dangerous'
close ups to simulate falling?


'gonna be hard to do because of the multiple narratives but will be worth it'
not going to use lots and lots of narratives, because it would get messy. Going to use about 3-4


'achievable with equipment'


'researched similar types of the style of music' 


'what are you going to do for the print work?'
boxes, hearts? or someone playing the guitar


'will work well with the guitars and little narrative'


'overall a good idea, ran through the presentation a little bit too fast, apart from that it worked well. Also you know what you want to do, you can tell you have thought about it'

MONTAGES FROM PITCH

PITCH

A2 Music Video - The Pitch on Prezi

CREATIVITY WEEK

I listened to my song about three or four times, doodling on a piece of paper. The main imagery I came up with was boxes and drawn hearts. I also had the idea of people following and watching each other.
This is influenced my decision to make my video very literal, fitting to the lyrics.


Research


bluegrass: 

• American roots
• sub-genre of country
• mixed roots in scottish, english, welsh and irish traditional music
• inspired by Appalachian immigrants
• influenced by African-American, jazz elements
• stringed instruments - guitars

Chinese pop:

• literally pop music sung in a Chinese dialect
• 'contemporary music sang in Chinese dialects in Shanghai'

indie pop:

• alternative rock music that originated in the UK, mid 1980s
• roots in Scottish post-punk bands
• 'indie' has been used to describe people on independent labels

CREATIVITY

Creativity depends on being unafraid to make mistakes, and having a go, even if you're not sure.

To be creative, you need to go out of your comfort zone, daydream, draw, scribble notes, make play-dough sculptures or choreograph movements.

As I am also a dance and performing arts student and a kinesthetic learner, playing around and choreographing and improvising to the music helps me to be the most creative.

Ken Robinson believes that everyone is creative when they are young, but teachers push creativity out of you as you grow, as young people become afraid of being wrong.

SONG - Heart in a box - Kelli Blanchett

heart in a box by kelli blanchett

MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS

Frank Turner - Reasons not to be an idiot



1)
if you listened to the song with your eyes closed, you imagine it to be chilled out, you think of a band playing quite lazily - this is what the video is like

2)
the video follows a narrative slightly - we see the artist filming the video, how to the director is manipulating him to look the right way

3)
the star appears casual, not really bothered with what is happening

4)
slow pace, only about 26 shots in the first minute
quick shaky film, zooming in and out in the same shot
regularly pans around the see the director, then pans back to the artist
long shots of the 'performance', the artist, the band
keep cutting back to the same shot of the director pulling the artists face around

5)
this video is amplifying. the song is about how you should just calm down and live your life. This is shown through the video as the artist has enough of the director trying to change everything that he just walks off.

The video is definitely not illustrative, however, as we never see anything that directly matches to the words of the song


Sven E Carlsson's theory is that music videos fall into two groups: performance and conceptual. The video seems to be both. At the beginning, it appears completely performance, as the artist and his band are just stood there singing and playing their instruments. However, the camera then pan to the side and we see the 'director'. This is where the video becomes more conceptual, we are seeing the video being filmed, what the director is telling the artist to do. This makes the video interesting and different, as well as quite funny.

SECOND MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS, ANDREW GOODWIN

Lady Gaga, You and I




1)
the shots don't change between the verses and chorus'
they stay the same pace,  but varied shots
as the video goes on we see more persona's emerge

2)
there's lots of different narratives together
She shows the differences between the narrative by using different costumes and settings
Lady Gaga adopts lots of different persona's and plays out different narrative, that are going on at the same time

we see different sections of the stories

3)
star is portrayed as unusual, weird

how Lady Gaga wants to be seen? all her videos have separate meanings, are all a bit weird
exciting, varied
mermaid,
ice cream van

dancers- Gaga portrayed as a leader?

4)
slow pace, less than 50 shots a minute
except for first middle 8 - fasted editing, more shots
then pace slow for another 8
long takes
lots of establishing shots - every time a new character is introduced

5)
disjunctive - it doesn't really make sense, we don't see just one narrative, we see lots of different ones, all of which are unrelated, except that the singer features as the main character in all of them

definitely not illustrative, the visuals never respond to the audio, neither does it amplify

Sven E Carlsson said that music videos fall into two categories: performance (the artist is seen singing or dancing) or conceptual (something else is shown during the video- maybe a narrative)
Therefore, this video would fall into both of these categories. We see lots of different narratives being played out in the video, but the artist is seen singing and dancing in the majority of them.