Planning the Dance Shots

When discussing potential shots and locations for our music video, we knew that we wanted dancing in it as we thought that it would fit well with the music. We found a contact who new a great group of dancers and asked them if they would like to star in our video. They agreed and decided to choreograph the dance. Later that week we received a video of the dance. This is it: 

Target Audience

We believe our target audience for our music video would mainly be teenage girls and young women up to the early 20's. This is because the music is likely to be of interest to this particular people as they can relate to the music and are more likely to be fans.

Results of Target Audience Survey

90% of our target audience was female suggesting the video would need to feature motifs and iconography that they could relate to them such as jewellery and fashionable clothing.

The most used social networking site was 'Twitter' suggesting to keep up with our audience we needed to make one as well for our artist.

The majority our our target audience seem to be aged between 15-21 years old.

The most read magazine was 'Cosmopolitan' suggesting when we make our album advert for a magazine it should be for one our target audience regularly reads. 

Just over half of our target audience likes to eat Nando's.

The majority of our target audience describes their style to be either 'girly' or 'latest trends' giving us ideas of what style of clothing our artist should wear.

Approximately a third of our target audience shop at Topshop. This suggests may be we could get Hannah to dress in clothing from this shop.

Over two thirds of our audience like to go shopping on the weekend. 

When asked the question, 'Who is you favourite artist?' Answers included:

- Beyonce

- Ciara

- Katy Perry

- Cheryl Cole

- Nicole Scherzinger 

Ciara Video Analysis

• Music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics - performeance of the song is not on stage but a studio performance. It is lip synced throughout and they are wearing appropriate clothes for the genre of the music 

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visual - the song is about Ciara acting 'like a boy' and this is seen throughout where she dresses like a boy (in a suit) and sits like a boy at the beginning of the music video. 

• There is a relationship between music and visual - on average there are two beats per shot and generally they change on the beat, but some of the shots change much more quickly and some slower. There are about 150 shots in the whole music video and a huge range of different camera movements including panning, zoom and tracking. 

• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist - this is evident in Ciara's "Like a Boy" as throughout the music video Ciara is seen in the majority of the shots which include long, mid and close-up shots. 

• The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work - in this music video, it is the objectification of males. This is seen when she grabs her crotch, she doesn't smile and the dance is more what you would expect from a male dancer. 

• There is frequent reference to the notion of 'looking' (screes within screes, filming, cameras) and particularly voyeuristic (pleasure through looking) treatment of the female body - this is opposite in Ciara's music video as she is seen to be objectifying the male rather than the female being objectified. We see him as passive with close-ups of her looking down on him. 

• There are often intertextual references-mostly to film, television and popular culture - usually women in this pop/ hip-hop genre are shown dancing provocatively where as Ciara has turned this round and her and her dancers are dancing like men. 

I decided to analyse Ciara's "Like A Boy" music video to help me with my music video as it is similar to it. I used Andrew Goodwin's 7 characteristics of a music video to help me analyse it in greater detail. This has helped me to see that in my own music video I would like to have dance shots with a plain background as I really liked that. Also from a practical point of view when they were filming the dance shots, the camera was always still but the shots were edited at a fast pace to still make it effective. 

What We Learnt From Our Audience Expectations

From our audience expecatations we recieved a variety of ideas. Some were mentioned more than other suggesting this was a common features. These responses were repeated and besides each one is written how we wish to/have already tried to include them in our music video.

• Fast pasted editing - our song is quite upbeat so this we wish to incoperate to keep the viewers entertained and interested in the video.
• Many different locations - We have found quite a few different locations and hope to use them in many ways.
• Good chorepgraphy - We regularly keep in contact with our dancers where we have been reviewing the dance for our music video
• Different lighting effects
• Close ups - When we start storyboarding this is something we need to include especially as a lot of people mentioned this.
• Appealing to audience - This task helped us to think of things that we may have missed out when planning, therefore we now wish to use certain things i.e.girly items of clothing or visuals to relate to our audience which is teenage to women in the early 20's.

Survey For My Target Audience

I created a survey to send out to find out more about my target audience. These are the questions I asked: 

Ciara - 'Livin' it Up' lyrics

Here is a copy of the lyrics to 'Livin' it Up' 

Ohhh ohhh
Yeah, yeah
I don't believe in much
But I believe in you
I don't believe I can't
'Cause I don't follow rules, hey
I see your star so bright,
No one can dim that light
No one can cross you out, but you
And I, I, I
Living on borrowed time
And I, I, I
I'mma be gettin' mine and
And I, I, I
I'll be wrong if I don't try
I Don't know when my next meals coming
All I know is I'll be running
I, I, I
I be livin' it up, I be livin' it up, yeah
I, I, I
I be throwin' it up, I be throwin' it up, yeah
I, I, I'll
I'll be playing it cool
'Cause a girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do
Making up my own rules
O'la, o'la aye,
O'la, o'la aye,
O'la, o'la aye,
O'la, o'la aye
I have my doubts in love, but I know it's true
I don't have many friends, but I got you
You are a walking gun
You are a secret bomb
Something no one can take from you
Ohh, I
And I, I, I
Living on borrowed time
And I, I, I
I'm gon' be getting mine and
And I, I, I
I'll be wrong if I don't try
I don't know when my next meals coming
All I know is I'll be runnin'
I, I, I
I be livin' it up, I be livin' it up, yeah
I, I, I
I be throwin' it up, I be throwin' it up, yeah
I, I, I'll
I'll be playing it cool
'Cause a girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do
Making up my own rules
I'mma live life to the fullest
I'll be speeding like a bullet
I'll be rolling like a train
I'll be dancing in the rain
I, I, I
I be livin' it up, I be livin' it up, yeah
I, I, I
I be throwin' it up, I be throwin' it up, yeah
I, I, I'll
I'll be playing it cool
'Cause a girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do
Making up my own rules
O'la, o'la aye,
O'la, o'la aye,
O'la, o'la aye,
O'la, o'la aye

Audience Expectation of a Pop/R'n'B Music Video

Once we had decided what song we were going to do and what genre of music it was we carried out some more audience research into what they expect from a music video in the pop/ R'n'B genre. This is what they said:

Getting Past Copyright Issues

Once having chosen our song; Ciara 'Livin' It Up' we had to get permission from Ciara's record label to be allowed to use her song and publish our video on the internet. After having made a few phone calls to Sony Entertainment, we had to email the correct person to give us the permission:

The Final Decision

I ended up carrying out a vote for which song we should use as we could not decide. The results are shown below: 

53% Ciara - Livin' it Up

27% Katy B - Lights On 

20% Katy Perry - Last Friday Night 

Some of the reason included: 

"I have never heard Livin' it Up by Ciara before but it seems upbeat and has cool lyrics" - Emily

"Katy Perry - Last Friday Night is too well know and I can see the video in my head when it plays so it will be hard to get that out my head when watching your music video to it." - Max

"There is not much you can do to a music video of Lights On by Katy B as the lyrics are really repetitive, so it may be a bit boring" - Ellie

Overall, Ciara - Livin' it Up won!

Choosing a song - top 3

After having decided to use a signed artist, I looked at loads of songs that fit into our criteria; an upbeat, fast pace and catchy song. I have narrowed our song choice down to our favourite 3!

1. Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night' was the starting point for our research into signed artists. I wanted to find a song similar to this but not as well know:



2. Katy B's 'Lights On' was one of the first songs we looked at that fell into our category and we really liked it:




3. Ciara's 'Livin' it Up', we also really liked this song. This is probably our favourite at the moment as we really like the lyrics, it is less well known than the other two and it doesn't have a music video:

Audience Expectations of a Music Video

As part of finding out more about what people expect from a music video, I asked a few people and filmed their responses and comments. This is vital when making a music video so I know what to include in it to meet the audiences expectations and what they want to see. The information gathered from this video helps me get some other ideas of what I may or may not want to include. One that specifically stood out was the filming in many different locations, so I will ensure that this is clear in my own music video. 

Choosing between an Unsigned and a Signed Artist

Even though we had found an unsigned artist that we liked, we still werent sure about using her. We thought about it and after doing a lot of research into both signed and unsigned artists we decided that we would rather use a signed artist's song for our music video because we feel we can do more with some of the other songs we have been looking at

More Research Into Unsigned Artists

We did some more research into all four of the unsigned artists that we liked and managed to narrow it down to our favourite, Mausi.

This is currently a potential song that we might use for our music video. However, it is only a maybe at the moment 

9 Frame Analysis

This is part of my research into the conventions of music videos where I looked at how Goodwin's theories linked to Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors"

Looking for an Unsigned Artist

To begin with, we had the idea that we could use an unsigned artist's song for our music video as there wouldn't be any issues with copyright and uploading it to youtube.

We researched unsigned artists using Radio 1's 'Introducing' website where there were loads of artists that had performed at Reading and Glastonbury. There were 4 particular arrtists that stood out to us more than the others:

1. Izzy Marie Hill
2. The Katanas
3. Indiana
4. Mausi

What I learnt from the lip-syncing exercise

When we got given our lip-syncing exercise the first thing we all agreed on was that we wanted an up beat song in the pop genre as we all listen to pop music and no doubt we would all know the song. We started our research by all going away and looking up different songs on YouTube that we could potentially use. After doing this individual research we all agreed on 'Girlfriend' by Avril Lavigne.

So, we had our song choice and now it was time to plan everything else including locations, artist/ performers, costumes, props and what shots we wanted. To begin, we decided to plan what we wanted in every shot. For accuracy, we used the music video and at every different shot we paused it and took a screenshot. Once this was done we turned our attention to everything else in the pre-production stage. 

The discussion started with location and it was pretty clear to all of us that our school would be the most effective location to use. We settled on a few locations within our school which were most like the ones in the Avril Lavigne music video. We chose our school not only for the convenience but some of the shots were of large groups of people in a canteen which we had at our school so we could match the shots accurately. We then had to make a decision on the actors for our video. Luckily we had a group of friends who were eager to help us and volunteered to perform in it! 

During the production stage of this exercise we showed the first 30 seconds of the music video to the actors to help them to see what our aim was to recreate that. We also broke it down for them into shots they were in at each different stage of the video. So, for example we showed Hannah (our Avril Lavigne) the first few seconds of the part of the music video we were shooting so she could focus doing what she saw and then we would do the next few seconds and so on. Whilst we were filming we played the song in the background so our actor knew what part of the song she was singing. In the music video, there is a boy and a girl, unfortunately due to filming schedules and issues we had to use two girls, which made the process slightly harder. However, we used the actors and props that were available to us at the time and made the most of it. 

One we had filmed all our shots we started to import it onto iMovie on the mac and exported it to final cut to start the editing process. Once we started this it was clear that we didn't have as many shots as we hoped and wanted which caused a bit of an issue as some of the shots became quite long. Also, this is the first time that we have had to lip-sync something so when we first started editing it was quite difficult to match the lyrics of the song and what our artist was singing. 

However, this was all a massive learning curve as it showed us the importance of planning and story boarding which we will do more effectively when we start our whole music video. I also think that it was quite difficult to film and edit as a group of 5 as everyone had differing ideas and opinions. I concentrated mainly on the filming and a bit of the editing during the making of this music video and I think that the bit I struggled with most was finding the right shots to film as we didn't plan it fully and clearly enough which I now realise and will act upon for our upcoming music video. 

Lip-syncing task

We chose to do our lip-syncing task to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" and replicate the shots in her video in ours as to complete this task we were not concentrating on the shots themselves but more practising lip-syncing the shots to the music. Here is the finished product:

Typical Synopsis

I have looked at 3 different music videos within the pop genre and summarised them in a paragraph discussing themes, conventions and trends. I was also looking out for any ideas  that they could potentially give me for my own music video.

1. Katy Perry - Last Friday Night


The main theme running through this video is about being young and having fun. This is shown through the story of what happened to a girl 'last Friday night' and reinforced through the mise-en-scene of the video i.e. The use of bright/ neon colours for costumes and decorations around the house. The video cross cuts the morning after with the party according to the lyrics of the song which allows us to really imagine it is a true story. The song often show links with the song and video such as the when the saxophone comes into the music, in the shot it shows a man playing the saxophone at the party. This video really appeals to the target audience because of the use of bright colours and light, also the use of real situations such as they are playing 'just dance' in the video.  

2. Jessie J - Who's Laughing Now 




The general message conveyed through this music video is about Jessie J's personal achievements in the music industry and having the last 'laugh' at people who may have doubted her before she succeeded. This is shown through not only the lyrics but also the visuals in the music video as it shows mini Jessie, with the signature bob, taking revenge on some mean bullies at school. The setting and location also fit in well with the theme of anti bullying as it is set in a school where we see all the 'bullying' happen with all the 'bullies' in typical brightly coloured pink clothing. The song intertwines between Jessie J singing and the story of mini Jessie being bullied and starting to stand up for herself until they some together at the end of the song singing "Who's laughing now".

3. Little Mix - Wings 


 

The band sing about spreading their wings and flying in which hidden is a message about not letting what other people say bring you down. The song is supposed to be upbeat and uplifting which is shown through the use of dancing, bright outfits and brightly coloured scenery. However, the lyrics don't really match the visuals in the video as they sing about flying with wings. Although some of the lyrics are reiterated in the dance moves, for example when they sing about not letting anyone bring them down, they point down/ crouch down and when they sing about falling from the sky, they point up. 

9 Frame Analysis - Beyonce 'Love On Top'

The video begins with a 1 second close up of a line of microphones, an artistic shot which symbolises the artist in concert. It is an unusual shot which has made us think about the original and 'different' shots that we could use in our own music video, playing with lighting and framing.

This establishing shot lasting 2 seconds creates and sense of enigma as the dancers have their backs to the camera and the audience is immediately interested to find out what they look like. They click their fingers to the beat portraying Andrew Goodwin's convention of matching the sound to the visuals.

This close-up of a dancer clicking his fingers once to the beat of the music uses an idea that we had thought of incorporating into our own video - a close-up of an accessory, in this case showing the bracelet. To appeal to our young female teenage audience our singer is going to be wearing signature jewellery which we plan to emphasis in close-ups.

This high angled shot lasts 1.5 seconds - perhaps a reference to the song title 'Love On Top'. 

This mid-shot from yet another angle is a good example of a music video using a variety of shots of the same performers to keep the audience interested. 

This wide shot is 4 seconds long which enables us to see all the performers turning round, this is what the audience has been waiting for. The shot shows all the performers but shows Beyonce as standing out because she is the only female and her costume and hat stands out from the rest of the performers. This is the effect we want to achieve with our artist who will be dressed differently to the dancers. 

This is the point where Beyonce starts to sing and her dance moves are on the beat. It is another high angle shot and lasts 5 seconds. 

This is a close-up of Beyonce's shoes which are appropriate for the genre of music and they link in well with the dance style she uses. For our music video we have also planned to include shots of the singers feet; however our singer will be wearing heels as it fits in more with our type of music. 

This 2 second shot emphasises Beyonces love of fashion and style. As in the beginning she is hiding her face which creates a sense of expectation for the audience and a sense of playfulness which is carried on throughout the video - it makes us want to be Beyonce!

Award Winning Music Video Analysis

Radio edit



Full length short film music video


This is the winner of the video of the year 2013 at MTV Awards. I looked at Andrew Goodwin's 7 conventions of a music video and how they link to this music video.

• Music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics - Timberlake's "Mirrors" is in the pop genre so I would expect something quite different from this video. There are some aspects that are conventional such as the party and young love. However, there are several characteristics which are untypical such as no performance from the artist and no lip syncing.

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visual - the song in called "Mirrors" and many of the shots include mirrors or are filmed from behind a mirror. The lyrics play with the idea of mirrors, for example "It's like you're my mirror, My mirror staring back at me" and "We're making two reflections into one" 

• There is a relationship between music and visual - it is unusual in that the takes are quite long. However, there are also some quick shots changing on the beat. The rhythm of the song is quite slow which goes with the slow camera movement and editing. 

• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist - although Justin Timberlake does not feature all throughout the music video, he does appear towards the end in a room full of mirrors and showing off his dancing skills.

• The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style) - this video is unique as it's made in the style of a "short film" (Daily Mail - 20th March 2013) and is dedicated to his grandparents which we see at the beginning. 

• There is frequent reference to the notion of 'looking' (screes within screes, filming, cameras) and particularly voyeuristic (pleasure through looking) treatment of the female body - the whole video is dedicated to mirrors and reflections so the whole thing is based around the notion of 'looking'. Unusually there are close ups of old people, however you also see a close up of an attractive girl in her underwear and Timberlake is also shown dancing with an attractive female performer dressed only in flesh colour bra and tights. 

• There are often intertextual references-mostly to film, television and popular culture - the whole film is biographical referring to various events in his grandparents relationship. 

This has made me realise that although it is important to follow some conventions a really good music video is able to break those conventions deliberately which has made me think even more carefully about how I will use conventions in my own music video. 

Key Conventions of a Music Video

To get more information about music video's, I researched typical key conventions of a music video. I found out that in 1992, after years of reseach into music videos, Andrew Goodwin published a book containing 'codes and conventions' of a music video. Goodwin's theory identified these key features:

• Music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics, e.g. Stage performance in metal/ rock music videos and dance routines in girl/ boy bands. 
• There is a relationship between lyrics and visual - this is where the visuals either amplify or contradict the lyrics. 
• There is a relationship between music and visual 
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist.
• The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style). 
• There is frequent reference to the notion of 'looking' (screes within screes, filming, cameras) and particularly voyeuristic (pleasure through looking) treatment of the female body.
• There are often intertextual references-mostly to film, television and popular culture.

I also found some key features of music videos myself when doing my research:

• Lip syncing - this is consistent throughout the majority of music videos and is vital as it links the image to the sound. 
• Camera shots and movement - music video's often include many long shots, mid shots and  close ups, this is to create emphasis artist and there emotions, panning, tilts and tracking shots are also used to follow the movements of the artist/band.
• Pace of editing fits the pace of music, e.g Jar of Hearts by Christina Perry has a very slow tempo which is reflected by the slow pace editing of the music video which contains longer shots to match the pace of the song
• Mise en scene reflects the mood of the song, e.g. If it was a cheerful happy song, you would not see dark and depressing surroundings, lighting or costumes. 

Collage

During my research I thought it would be helpful to create a moodboard of pop music video pictures to help identify some ideas i might want to use in my music video. In the majority of these picture, there are a lot of bright colours e.g. the outfits, props and lighting

History of Pop Music Videos

Music videos became very prominent in the 1980’s when MTV arose to the televisions. When pop music first began still images were put together to create clips of songs to promote them, videos have developed majorly over the years. Short musical clips were put together to promote songs in the 1950’s as years passed a few clips were put together and then music videos began to come together. The real beginning of music videos began in the early 70’s where the real buzz was created through TV shows such as Top of the Pops which aired on British Television. This then lead to MTV the most popular music channel. Pop music videos tend to be bright and tell a story as well as contain catchy lyrics which create a sense of reality which is appealing to its audience. This has lead to the success of artists and more TV coverage has lead them to more fame. Madonna was a massive pioneer in the pop genre who set a high standard. Her fan base was extremely wide as it targeted many different age groups. She also became a role model to women and girls where here music video lead to people wanting to be like her including dressing like her. A famous song from Madonna was Material Girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNSUOFgj97M Spice Girls were a famous girl group who has a massive influence on pop music and audiences which ranged from young girls to older women. Due to the success of the career within the pop genre these lead them to starring in their own films, their own merchandise and hosting many concerts as well as attending events such as Party in the Park. Wannabe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ

Pop Music

This is a term used for popular music which began and in the 1950’s originated from Rock and Roll. This genre of music tends to combine elements of dance, urban and many more. Pop music is hugely recognised around the world and has developed majorly over the years and is played in many ways such as the on TV, Radio, Concerts and sites such as YouTube.

 Characteristics of pop music:

•Intended to encourage dance
•Appealing to all audiences
•Reflects trends
•Catchy
 •Artistic qualities
•Range of rhythm and beats

 The characteristics of pop music that really appealed to us and made us want to create one ourself was the dance element and the catchyness. I know myself that pop music is very catchy and........