Wednesday 29 September 2010

Sunday 19 September 2010

The Survey and Focus Group

It is essential to research and collect information about our audience in order for the music video to appeal to them.During class we were asked to create a survey and interview a focus group in order to find out who exactly are our target audience. The survey questions will enable us to find out specific information so we can focus on targeting a sector of young people that have the same thing in common.Here is the link to the survey:

Audience Research SURVEY

Focus Groups:

Other than one on one interviews focus groups are an excellent way of getting detailed responses an opinions.We hope to get around 5-10 people to discuss music videos, we aim to find out what they dislike/like about certain music videos which will help us during the whole process of our production.

-The session should last about 10-20minutes and will be filmed
-Both genders should be present to get a balanced view
-The people in the focus group should be able to give their own opinions and back it up with examples
-We will ask people individually about what they think to start up a lengthy discussion

Mood Board Powerpoint

Mood Board

Week 2 blog reflection


Analysis of 3 Music Videos




I choose to analysis Keri Hilson's `slow dance' video because i liked the genre of R&B and it has similar genre, representations and technical aspects that we would like to include in our music video.

The technical construction of this video is quiet slow paced reflecting the songs pace, the editing is cut to the main baseline of the song and this used through out the video to indicate a cut or the dance movements she does fitting in with the songs rhythm.I like how the camera has a lot of close up of her and stick with a pattern every other shot is a close up of her face others her body or standing up at the beginning of the song.

In the video it displays good representations of women that we would like to portray in our video.Her attitudes to going out, she starts the video getting ready for a night on the town with her girls.I like how the video Starts her off getting ready for the night as it is true to how women take there time to get ready e.g the close up on the Ipod, her taking her time, dancing and daydreaming about the night ahead and her friends waiting for her being the last out.

At the beginning they used a flashback which gets the audience interested in her intentions for the night how the narrative will continue.The genre of this fits into the R&B category, this video represents this well with the slow pace it uses, the kind of set and locations that it was filmed at and the artist itself.

The video represents women as independent, got there own job, financially stable, nice flat, groups of loyal female friends ready for a night on the town.This helps to go against the stereotypes of females relying on male approval, men being dominant sex and all relationship shown as negative and women displaying there unhappiness.This video is different as it shows `romance' as a positive thing showing her finding a guy in a club and playing along rather than negatively.

The whole concept of the video works well because the video and song go very well together through the uses of editing, locations and actors.The lyrics and video relate well e.g `slow dance' shots were she slow dances with a guy, at the beginning were she is getting ready and studio location on her own.The cuts work well with the beat of the music as well as the type of camera movements used such as close ups and long shots.




I choose to analyses Diana Vickers `the boy who murdered love' video as I liked the uses of graphics and animations, the song genre and the video's narrative structure.

The representation of women are portrayed by her emotions of feeling hurt, explaining her feeling towards her boyfriend linking in with the lyrics/title `the boy who murdered love' .It goes against the stereotypes of women being weak and giving just taking back there partner and not wanting to leave. This video shows her being strong telling the audience exactly how she feels and having her leave at the end gives women hope of doing the same.


The technical construction they used in the graphics and colours reminded me of childlike imagination, how she feels through the uses of colours and animations words and pictures were used to enhance the videos interest and quality. The editing cut with the beat and the most important words in the lyrics such as love, and shot fitting in with the tile of song. The narrative focuses more on her leaving him and how she feels about him and how he’s hurt her. The editing show this through using numerous close ups on her face, Her body language and graphics used around her.


I like the way the editing uses graphics to show when the words of the songs are coming e.g. shot, love, murdered. These help the audience pick up the song making it catchy and making the video interesting and exciting to watch. The use of colours brightens the video up making it more interesting on the eye as well as having visuals for the audience to read. She fits into the genre of pop, and fits this kind of genre from the way she dresses, the song beat and rhythm and the way the video is shown.



The narrative shows love in a negative and disappointing light. The video includes her filmed in her house, bedroom, outside, shots of her boyfriend. The very end of the video is significant as it shows her walking away with a packed back this indicates to the audience that her feeling towards him throughout the video have been for the her reason to leave. I like the narrative throughout the video and the effects it has on the audience .It makes you question what her lyrics mean in relevance to the man in the video, why and what will happen.


Overall the video works well because both video and song suit the artists well e.g. the video being light and airy showing her personality and reflecting the way she is dressed. The graphic/colours that were edited in were to bring unique twist to the video and increase audience appeal. The editing cuts especially well to the main lyrics e.g. shot and love. The representations of women are highlighted well as she doesn’t put up with her boyfriend treating her bad .We see in the video as she leaves, See her being independent and strong willed. Narrative works well with the song and shows her true feeling and exposing her vulnerability in the video.





This is the music video to a funky house track by Meleka called 'Go'.Both the song and video relate the theme of love and relationships which is also our chosen theme.

The storyline conveys young woman and a man that meet at a club, they start dating and eventually end up in a relationship.We realise they have been together for 3years, which is represented through anniversary cards.The female character is having doubts about her man, their relationship starts to deteriorate and after some time she catches him in bed with another woman.Later we see that Meleka(girlfriend) has killed him, at the end of the video we assume she is being escorted to court by police.

The narrative follows a fragmented structure as the story is told in reverse order through flashbacks.The most used setting is of the artist in a car, the camera then cuts to flashbacks to reveal the storyline.The car ride is significant as she is thinking about past events that occurred and also taking us on that journey.

The video starts with a female being escorted out of a house by police men and surrounded by.This opening suddenly sparks questions for the audience. Who is this women? Why is she with police? Why are the paparazzi interested in he? The female is in her 20's, she looks smart and responsible and doesn't seem like the type of character to get into trouble with the police.So far the audience is hooked to the storyline, the opening has arisen questions which the viewers are looking for answers to.

The editing at the beginning is also rapid to match the uneasy atmosphere, this puts us in her position as she is being rushed to car whilst the paparazzi swarm her. The quick cuts ensure the audience aren't too sure of what is going on with everything moving fast, at the same time we see the female is distressed and uncomfortable as the camera shows close ups of her face.

The video has an unexpected twist at the end which challenges mainly the stereotypes of women. We find out that the main female character killed her boyfriend which is a shock to all of us as woman are usually portrayed as the weaker race. We also assume murderers to be tough older males but in this case it is a young women. The directors choice of revealing the storyline was different and unusual, the day after the secret is out we see the female in bed with her boyfriend (this is confusing for the viewer as it appears that she has taken him back after cheating) she gets out of bed and the shots is held on her boyfriend after a few cuts to different scenes we see forensics taking pictures of his body suggesting he is dead.

The narrative of this video is very similar to our idea, we are planning to use similar locations like a club, cinema, bedroom which young people can relate to.





This is the music video to a track called 'On a Mission' by Katy B. The first few shots are of locations in London including the city and the O2, this instantly appeals to a London audience as they will be able to relate to settings that they may have visited.The video consists of people of all different races, As we can see the artist is white and the DJ is black which represents London as being a multi cultural society.The camera also cuts to a male wearing an 'i love London' t-shirt, this prop suggests the artist is trying to represent he city.

Through the props and settings we can tell the video appeals to young people aged 16-25, the video also enhances music equipment as we see cuts dedicated to a mike, mixer, speaker and other music equipment, this connotes that the audience may not only be interested in the music but the production too.There is also a clear close up shot of the artist wearing Nike trainers which is a well known popular brand, which suggests the audience are into sports gear and maybe other designer wear.

Editing is fast pace along with the track and often cuts to the beat.There are various closeup and mid shots of the artist whilst she is singing to highlight the importance of her lyrics.Through out the video the lighting is minimal and dull, apart from the artist as we always see her in light. The video has no clear narrative, the main activity is the artist performance and the focus on the crowd. The concept of the video works well, even though there is not much contrast between the locations the fast pace editing and varied camera angles allows the audience to sustain their interest.



Sunday 12 September 2010

Week 1-blog reflection

Allocating Tasks

After viewing everyones presentations we chose our groups and started allocating tasks for pre-production, production and post production.Me and Ebun decided to work to together as both our ideas and visions for the music video were similar.


Plan

Final song and Lyrics




The whole night nightx5
the whole, tell me i need to know,
where do you wanna go,
cuz if ya don't,
i'll take it slow,
make you lose control,

baby would you like,
to spend the night,
the whole night,
and maybe if you play it right,
you can be my guy

the whole night night night,
do you mind if i,
the whole night night,
the whole night night,
would you mind if i,
the whole night night

do you mind if i take you home tonight,
stay another day,
if that's ok,
tell me baby,
would you mind if i take you home with me,
where no one can see,
so don't be shy,
baby baby x2

Baby,
i like your style,
so lets get it on,

cause if we touch,
i can get enough,
i'm falling for you,
Honey would you like,
to make up tonight,
the whole night,
and baby,
if you play it right,
you can be all mine

do you mind if i take you home tonght,stay another day,if that's ok,
tell me baby,
would you mind if i take you home with me,where no one can see,so don't be shy,baby baby x2

the whole night night,
do you mind if i,
the whole night night night,
the whole night night night,
would you mind if i,
the whole night night,
the whole the whole,
baby, hhoney, bbaby, baby, hohohoney, bbaby,

baby would you like,
to make love tonight,
the whole night,
and baby if you play it right,
you can be all mine, you could be all mine, you could be all mine, you could be all mine, you could be all mine, you could be all mine, you could be all mine, you could me all mine.

Email screen shot

We succcessfully managed to retain the rights to use the song ''Do you mind'' for our production.Here is a screen shot of the email stating permission given by the record company.

Photobucket

Wednesday 8 September 2010

My song-for pitch

Aretha Henry-I want you



My feedback

Strengths, weaknesses and Improvements

I think i succeed in explaining who my target audience was and what gender i was aiming it at by stating age range, what hobbies and interests relating to the artist and what genre.I Let my audience know what kind of narrative i was going for and how i would portray this on camera.I made it clear what kind narrative i was going for what genre and how it would relate to my artist .I think i explained what locations i would like to use well and why i chosen those specific locations in relation to my artists and how they would work well for the narrative.I expressed the representations of women well and whether id be for against the stereotypes/ideology.

I feel i could of use more visual images and explained more who the artist was e.g there background and specifically there music.I think i could of added more information about the kind of ancillary products related to the artist and how that would benefit the artist itself.I feel i could of spoken more and read out more of what i had written rather than picking out small sections as I may of missed important information out.I could of elaborated more on what kind of video it would be like e.g giving examples of currents videos with the same aspects of colour, editing, costumes which would of given the audience an idea of what i was aiming for.

The improvements I would make would be to make my presentation longer by adding more detail, visuals e.g more videos and pictures.I would practice speaking through the presentation before it has to be pitched so i am confident with the presentation and see if i have missed any vital info.I would make sure that all spelling and grammar is thoroughly checked before as some of my sentences didn't make sense.Overall i would make the presentation longer, more interesting for the audience by adding in visuals,videos,questions and more time for discussion at the end.





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Media pitch