Research and Planning: Digipak Brief

Creative Brief For Digipak
Release Date: 17th January 2015    Album Title: Belong to the City. 

Project Managers: Darhyl Matias, Chloe Boylan, Sean Mutiso
Product Overview:

Who are they?
Sean De La Rose is originally from North London, and is releasing his debut album. The music video for ‘Follow’ will be released on the 17th January 2015 at the same time as his album will be released “Belong to the City”.
What is the concept?
We need to have the digipak looking very simple, yet eye catching with a simple background but a title that stands out. This is so that the audience will remember the title easily because Sean De La Rose will need as many new fans as possible with it being a debut. He is a modern artist who plays tribute to old styles of music like Jazz and Swing, but is influenced by modern day artists like Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown.
Why are we doing it? 
This has to be a memorable cover simply because we want to get as many people to notice Sean as possible in order to create a new and long lasting fan base. He will wear smart, but fashionable clothing in order to try and create a relationship with the audience before even actually listening to the music because the public tend to be quite looks orientated so his looks have to be relatable and identifiable. 
Comparable Products?
Artists such as Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and Frank Sinatra are all artists that we would like to follow in the footsteps of. They attract all their fans by allowing the audience to have a strong relationship with them due to interests and hobbies, clothing and simple digipak designs that people will remember.
The Digipak:
Consumer:
Primary: 
Male: 45% Aged 12 - 45
Secondary:
Female: 65% Aged 12 - 45

What is the reaction we want?
What we want is a positive reaction to the album due to our target audience mainly being teenagers and young adults as our consumer being able to related to our brand and artist. With this positive reaction from the mainstream and diverse audience, they will create a relationship between the artist and the consumer. AS for doing this it allows for the people to share similar view and beliefs with each others.
How Will We Know It Worked?
It would have worked by the product gaining a positive reaction from the consumers when released, this will be known by us breaking even on the sales target and definitely if we break the target. Furthermore with the first draft there will be a focus group being created so that we can gain some audience feedback from the fans he already has, with doing this it allows us to improve what we did wrong at first. 

Key launch Dates: 
Press Campaign:  11th December 2014
Album Release: 27th January 2015

Album Sleeve
Description: TO produce a friend, relating digipak with the group showing their personality and characteristics to appeal to the target audience making them want to have a connection with the artist and feel what he feels.
Deadlines 27th January 2015
Objective: To present and produce an album that relates to our target audience with night life, emotional connection, fashion sense etc. Helping the audience be able to enjoy life more. 
Proposition: To appeal to a wider target audience that is still within the Jazz/Swing genre, as this will help build the Jazz artist who originates from a slightly niche genre, leading into more success.
Tone Of Voice/Brand Image/Positioning: To aim for our target audience and make them relate to the lyrics, genre and themes of the song. 
Restrictions/Limitations: The only restriction is to provide the album and artist name, album image, the release date, the album title, information about the album, where it is available to purchase and record label.
Production Specs: 1 CD with a plastic case. 
Creative Edge Spectrum: We want the digipak to be similar to the advert in terms of consistency and style but be more creative with it, to show to the consumers what the artist is really about.
Budget: TBC

Research: Hebdige's Theory

The music industry is made up of many different sub cultures that differ from what is classed as ‘mainstream’. Many sub cultures are variations of each other. For example, Rockers and Metal-heads. They are very similar, but sub genres of music and clothing separate them. These types of people refuse to stick to what is classed as a mainstream society and they choose to be different and rebel against typical stereotypes. These people also tend to prefer niche music rather than the music that wider varieties of people listen to. Hebdige said that many groups are involved in the protest against the mainstream society, which means that as well as there being a lot of people who do stick to the mainstream groups

Planning: Final Idea.

As a group, after thinking about all our possible options, we have now decided on the following song as our final idea. 

Song details: 

* Artist: Sean De La Rose
* Song Title: Follow
* Genre: Jazz

We have decided to choose this song as it combines two era’s of music, old school Jazz along with an Urban, modern twist. We think the genre is unique and the potential videos ideas for this genre will be very interesting to explore. The male artist ideas seem unique and we can be very creative with his ‘star image’ when considering combining the two genres of music, but mainly the idea of Jazz. 


Video content:
The video idea is to have a pair of friends who are relaxing with each other and they spend a lot of time in each other’s company. They share similar ideas, beliefs and interests, so much so that they fall in love with the same girl. We are planning to show the girl feature as part of their friendship group and show how both boys long to be with her. They will display their love in their own unique ways, combining elements of narrative, performance and dance.  


Video structure:
This video idea will show all parts of a conventional music video. We will show performance of the artist as he performs the lyrics, then show some narrative as the two friends engage in each others company and then show them enjoying the company of the same girl. Because the song is so smooth and sounds relaxed, we will also so some concept ideas of locations and the boys breaking out in dance routines. 


Star image:
We will follow Dyer’s theory of ‘Star Image’ so he appeals to a mainstream audience. 
-young
-follows popular culture
-dressed smartly but casual at the same time (suit with an open white shirt)
-has hobbies and interests  like pool, playing cards, dancing etc. 



Mise en scene: 
Location: 
-deserted but pretty locations 
-parks
-isolated bench
-steps
-arcade playing pool
-round table for activities like playing cards
Iconography: 
-drinking
-cards
-smoking
-pool table 
Costume:
-smart/casual. Suits and white shirt
Lighting:
-Natural from city lights and lampposts
-low-key lighting 
Body language and facial expressions:
-artist will have a very relaxed and chilled body language, so will the friend
-the female will be a little more flirty and elegant. 

Theory influence: 
Goodwin: will follow his 8 characteristics apart from intertextual references. Music to follow editing pace and visual to follow lyrics. Close-ups on star etc.
Dyer: we will show him following popular culture and having a lifestyle that people will want to buy into and want to be part of. 
Mulvey: we don’t want to show the female in too much of a sexual way, but we  will show her looking quite sexy at times. 






Music video influences (include at least 2 with some analysis)
1) Justin Timberlake: Suit and Tie
This music video influences us as we like the way he is dressed and the way her interacts with the camera as well as the other characters in the scene. The editing is done in a slow stylish way which is something we also want to do. His character representation is good and it a good example of how dance can be incorporated into the video. 
2) Westlife: Smile  
Again, we really like the way the video is shot and the soft focus it has. The characters are dressed in a way to enhance their ‘star image’ with their casual suits. The natural lighting is really effective and we like the way the female characters are represented in a feminine, yet sexual way.

Final choices in relation to audience feedback (q’s)
The audience feedback was more based around an alternative RnB video, however ideas like the lyrics matching the visuals and having a strong star image is something we will apply. 

Planning: Questionaire.

I created a questionnaire on my initial idea and distributed it to thirty people. From this feedback I was able to figure out what my target audience would prefer to see in the music video. These were the questions I asked: 1)
What age group are you in?

12 and under 13-15 16-18 19-21 21+

2) State your occupation. _________________________________________________________

3)What are your hobbies/interests? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4) Do you recognise of like any of these bands? Circle the appropriate answer(s).

Black Veil Brides Motley Crue Kiss Def Leppard

5) Do you feel that it’s necessary to have a star in the music video?

Yes/No

6) What do you think the ideal lighting would be for video of the rock genre?

High key Natural Low Key

7) Do you think it’s necessary to have the whole band in the music video?

Yes/No

8) Do you think the video would be less appealing if it was in black and white?

Yes/No

9) Do you believe that all of the editing techniques should match the pace of the song?

Yes/No

10) Which camera shot do you think is best to use frequently throughout the video?

Close up Long shot Mid shot Establishing shot Other If other, please state. ___________________________________________________________

Planning: Initial Ideas.

Each person in our group had come up with an indvidual idea. This was then shared within the group, and together we decided on a final idea out of the three.

Darhyl Matias
Artist: Mack Wilds Song: Remember The Time
Video Structure: Performance and Narrative Based
Video Content: I will have a person in their room thinking about things back in his past with some when he is thinking of the memories for example: having coffee, playing in the arcade, watching TV, playing PS3 etc. With this it will flick from the person performing and the memories, and then some of the memories will be linked with the lyrics.
Advantages: -Simple to film as the lyrics give some ideas I would use in the video - It's quite a slow song but yet has some tempo as well, which could be great to film and edit as we can do a lot in the editing with it.
Disadvantages: -Might be heard to lip sync -Trying to have good actors to play in the video
Genre: R&B
Characters: Male (performer) & female (actor)
MES: -Location: Coffee shops, home, shopping, spending time together -Costume: Casual, high fashion, lazy etc.

Chloe Boylan
Song: They Don't Need To Understand
Artist: Andy Biersack Genre: Alternative/Soft Rock
Narrative: One single person performing the song walking outside at night (Camden maybe?) while in other parts they perform in front of a black wall and videos of them growing on will be played. Also scenes of them being rejected from music labels and concert venues will be included. Then at the end, it will show them performing on stage to show the progress and that they didn't give up and didn't listen to people who put them down. This is relevant to this genre because the music videos normally have a meaning and they will relate to the lyrics.
Characters: One main character (other people may need to be used in order to play the younger versions of this character).
Iconography: Guitars, microphones and microphone stands.
Costume: Casual clothing, perhaps dark in colour to represent how hard their life has been.
Lighting: Low key. This will represent the night theme. I have chosen this because the night tend to be when people go for a walk and think about things. In this case, the character is reminiscing on the hard times in their life but being grateful because of what they achieved.
Location: Street at night and a dark room where videos can be projected.
Editing: The editing will be quite slow paced in order for the audience to capture the emotional feel of the song, visuals and lyrics.

Sean Mutiso
Artist: PARTYNEXTDOOR
Song: Recognize ft. Drake
Genre: PR&B (alternative R&B)
Narrative: The narrative will display the London night life featuring a group of friends who enjoy partying, drinking, smoking and listening to great music. The entire video will be filmed in low-key lighting to connote the mysteriousness of the night. The video will highlight the thrills London has to offer to those who are ready for it.
Narrative Structure: The structure I would like my music video to follow is Todorov’s. His theory includes a (start, middle and end) which is ideal for the video I am willing to create. Characters: The characters that will feature in this video will be a 3 guys and 3 girls initially. However, more characters will be included as the video progresses.
MES: -Location: A house which is where the party will situate. -Iconography: Bottles of alcohol etc. -Costume, Hair & Make Up: Characters have a free choice to wear what they like. The ideal clothes for this will be “party-outgoing attire” for both the guys and girls. -Lighting: The lighting will be low-key throughout. This is because it will be needed for the style of the video I will be shooting. The tempo of the song would correspond best with a night time video and not a day time. -Editing: I will include a range of editing types throughout the video such as: Slow paced editing, fade to black, straight cuts, jump cuts and many more. This will help to make the video very surreal and effective, drawing in the audience intended for.

Planning: Shot List.

The shot list is basically a plan of every shot that will be used within the production of the music video. This will allow the camera operator to know exactly what shot to use at each given time and exactly which parts it needs to be used.

Planning: Copyright Letter.

Copy Right Letter

Oasis Academy Hadley

South Street, Enfield

En3 4PX

TEL: 0208 804 6946

7th November 7, 2014


RE: TOM MISCH - FOLLOW

Dear Tom,

We are Mos Wanted Productions, a company created by 3 A2 media students and we are writing to request your permission to be able to use your song to make our music video. Although it is a cover yourself that you song, we would like to use your version of the song as we are very inspired by it. The track that we wish to be able to use is Follow. 

With your permission of being able to use this track we would like to create a music video of our own, as we are a group of three in this production group from the Oasis Academy Hadley Sixth Form. And this project for you media course is worth 50% of our coursework grade.

This project involves creating a music video for a song of our choice, and targeting a selected audience for this type of song. Furthermore we are going to create & produce an album and magazine advert to accompany it. This track I have requested to use is only going be used for the educational purposes of our coursework and the OCR exam board moderator.

 If we can gain your permission to create the music video, we will only be promoting it in terms of gaining audience feedback for our course work on the social media sites such as; twitter, face book and YouTube.  It would not be used for any promotional purposes in gaining views.
A copyright notice with wording supplied by you can be included in the records of the project. If this is required, please send us the full details to include.

 Thank you very much for your time. We look forward to hearing from you,

 Yours Sincerely,

Mos Wanted Productions:

Darhyl Matias

Sean Mutiso

Kloe Boylan 


Here is an official cover letter that I have sent to Tom Misch via his Facebook page asking for his support enabling us to use his version of the song ‘Follow’ to use for our production.  


















Tom is an independent artist and therefore doesn’t have a record label for us to contact, so the easiest way to do this was through Facebook. 


We are still waiting for a reply. 

Planning: Production Roles.

There are nine different roles that are vital in the production of a movie. These include: The Director, The Producer, The Lighting Manager, The Editor, The Sound Technician, The Story Boarder, The Camera Operator, The Location Manager, Costume Hair and Make-up Designer. It was essential to assign all of these to the each person in my group, based on their characteristics, to ensure that everyone is involved, and so that each persons’ skills are recognised and developed.

The Director makes all of the ultimate and final decisions, and they develop upon the producers ideas, to create an overall image of the scenes. This would include all the elements of the production process, so they have a say in everything that goes on. The Producer manages all of the budgets that are needed, and works alongside the director. This person will have an initial idea, that they will present to the director, who will develop on it.

The Camera Operator's job is to operate the camera, considering the appropriate angles, shots and sizes to satisfy the audience and give the desired effect or character representation. This person will meet with the director, and some of the crew to make and decide on technical decisions.

The Lighting Manager takes into consideration the direction of light that is needed to create certain effects within a scene.

The Editor combines lots of different camera shots, and turns them into sequences. This person needs to ensure that the finished motion picture is smooth, with clear and evident scene changes.

The Storyboarder has to sketch out everything that happens in each scene, and the time in which it will happen. The camera angles, editing effects, sound techniques, dialogue, and characters will all be noted here, also. A storyboard is created to keep everyone organised, and so all the cast and crew know exactly what they are doing, and when they are doing it.

The Location Manager's job is to select the appropriate locations for the settings throughout the film. This person has to take precautions and think about risks and health and safety hazards, and how to overcome them if something goes wrong.

The Costume, Hair and Make-Up designer has to make sure that each character is represented in the correct way through appearance. This is so the audience can familiarise themselves with the characters, by what they wear, or how they look generally.

Designated Roles:
As there are only three of us in this group, we have decided to take on more than on role. We have divided up the roles equally in order to get the best results. We also had to be quite logical when thinking of these roles as we had to choose them based on our personal qualities and how well we can do each role.

Darhyl.
We decided that Darhyl will take on three individual roles and one joint one with myself.
-The Director
-The Photographer
-The Camera Operator
-Print designer(Joint)
We have chose Darhyl for these roles because he studies photography and he is able to operate a camera with ease and achieve extraordinary results. We felt that he would be able to make our music video look even better if he filmed it as he knows how to pull off the correct shots for the right effect(and he also made some great choices when we were writing up the shot list. In terms of being the director, Darhyl will be the best for this role because he is very well organised and he was really good at looking at things critically last year with the Thriller as the producer, so we all felt that the Director's role this year.

Sean.
Sean also has three roles within the production of our music video.
-Storyboarder
-Editor
-Location Manager
Sean has very creative and artistic qualities so we decided that he would be the best for the storyboarding roles, and he can make everyone aware of how each scene is required to look. Also a certain amount of creativity is needed for the editing role, so this is why we felt that Sean would excel in this. Also, Sean has been very good in deciding the locations for the music video, so he is adapt at finding out the good places to film to benefit the production.

Chloe.
I will be taking on three roles aswell as the joint role with Darhyl.
-Lighting Designer
-Costume, Hair and Make-Up
-Producer
-Print Designer(with Darhyl)
I have been chosen to be the lighting designer because I can be quite technical when it comes to lighting. For the Costume hair and make-up, I did this last year so I have quite a lot of experience within this field now. I am the producer because I can look at situations critically and think of good solutions to problems.

Overall, I believe that each role has been allocated for each member based on their individual qualities and how successful they will be within it. I also think that by doing this, we will achieve the best out of our music video.

Research: Star Image

Star image is how an artist is perceived to an audience. This can be used for advertising or the marketing of a product. This is happens because an artist will be asked to be the face of a certain product for a while, which will make the audience believe that that artist actually likes and uses this product. This will make an audience feel a closer connection to the artist if they use this product which will then lead to them gaining more loyal fans.
A music video can help to boost an artist’s career because this is what allows the audience to see what the artist is like personality wise. For example, the audience will be able to see the artists face(usually) and they will be able to draw up their opinion of them and maybe feel more of a connection with them.
An artist is manufactured to fit a certain target audience, so it is more than likely that the artist will say that they like or are interested in a lot of people from this group of people would like.

*Insert Decode Video* An artist that does this in their music video is Paramore.
In their ‘Decode’ video, it shows the band in the woods but also as they did they were chosen to create the main single for the movie ‘Twilight’, they also show movie clips in it. This will boost their career because the audience of people that watched Twilight will hear the song in the credits and would be more willing to listen to them. This also goes vice versa. If the fans of Paramore see this music video then they will want to go and see Twilight. This will gain them more fans if it comes across as though they are fans of the film themselves.

The way an artist is perceived is very important within music videos. This can be done in several ways:
Sexually: If an artist is physically attractive and they are shown in quite a sexual and seductive light, then people will be more drawn to them even if it’s because members of the audience have a crush on them-it is still giving them fame.
Political ways: If an artist has certain political views, they may want to get their message across in their music video. This is because they want as many people as possible to see it and also to maybe get them to see their points and begin to agree and follow them(especially if they are fans).
Social ways: This is the idea of having to live or look a certain way. For example, if an artist is always drinking alcohol in their video, then it will probably make the artist believe that it’s right to be drinking alcohol on a frequent basis. It’s the same with looks. If an artist is really thin and toned and a lot of attention is always being drawn to these areas, then their loyal audiences will want to make themselves look the same way.

Overall, I feel that star image should not be the thing that every artist relies on to make more money or fame because the people of today can be extremely shallow. I think that the amount of money an artist makes should be solely down to the music that they produce. But in spite of this, is very important for an artist because it determines how many people actually buy into these artists and how the artists respond to their personality, etc.

Planning: Locations.

Location notes on the locations we plan to use.

Living room.
Relevant to genre: -Connotes safety, wealth and style. - R&B music videos usually have shots in a house.
Relevant to target audience: -Audience are familiar with the location so it will be beneficial to film in.
Location description: -A living room containing a sofa, table and other furniture -Low key lighting will be included.
Advantages of this location: -Warm conditions. -Easy to obtain and film in. -No background noise.
Potential problems: -Finding a suitable living room that suits the style and genre.
Existing videos that have influence you with this idea: -Justin Timberlake - Suit and tie


Location: South Bank.
Relevant to genre: -R&B genre usually involves drinking, smoking and partying themes-We will be using this in our video.
Relevant to target audience: - These themes are also popular within teens and young adults of this generation, so it is relatable to the audience.
Location Description: -Used to capture famous landmarks of England. -Show teens exploring the popular places in London.
Advantages of location: - A lot of space to film - A lot of light even at night. - Easy to get to.
Potential problems: - External people getting in the way of the shots. - Dangers of being with expensive equipment near water.
Existing videos that have influenced you with this idea: - Frank Sinatra's That's life

Location: Car.
Relevant to genre: - Shows wealth and style. - Popular form of transport.
Location Description: - Modern day car with nice looking interior. - Will be used for transportation purposes to get to the different locations.
Relevant to target audience: - Popular stereotype of the genre that the audience will be able to identify with. - Audience will want to know what kind of car that the star drives
Advantages of location: - Easy to film in - No background noise. - Easy to obtain.
Potential problems: - Car accidents - Money for petrol may be an issue. - Police- filming while driving.
Existing videos that have influence you with this idea: - Justin Timberlake's suit and tie

Location: Central London’s Nightlife.
Relevant to genre: - Popular stereotype of the genre. - The themes that go along with this location: Having fun, partying, etc.
Relevant to target audience: - It’s a world-famous landmark. - People can identify with this location if they live in this area.
Location description: - Central London at night(dark, but illuminated by lights. - Tall buildings - Lots of cars and people - Very colourful.
Advantages of location: - Open space - Lots of room to film - Easy to get to - Identifiable to the audience.
Potential problems: - Police(legal paperwork may be needed) - Some of the people being used in the video may not know how to get there
Existing videos that have influenced you with this idea: - Westlife's smile as it is in the casino and suit and tie by Justin Timberlake 

Planning: Characters

 
Analysis of music videos which portray friendships:

This is the relationship we want our artist to have with the character in the video. It is clear that they are good friends and have a lot of time for each other and spend time in each other’s company. We want our visuals to portray a ‘bromance’ and good times between our artist and his best friend. They will be seen to be relaxing with each other and doing lots of social activities like drinking, going out and having fun. We want it to have a really ‘chilled’ vibe between the characters and illustrate the fact that they share similar interest, feeling and morals which is why they spend so much time having casual fun with each other. 

My character:
Name: Ken
Age: 17 
Ethnicity: Oriental 
Gender stereotype of role: He will be very similar to the male artist in our music video. He will also like masculine hobbies like playing cards, drinking and dancing. He will be relaxed and chilled also to show he is a bit of a ‘cheeky chap’ which is what the genre of Jazz/Swing likes to show. He will be cool and also have a ‘star image’ that the audience will buy into.

Costume: He will have a similar costume representation of our artist as it is conventional of the genre. He will also wear a black, smart, tight suit and a white shirt with a few buttons undone. At time, he will wear a trilby hat which he will use to dance with. Smart shoes or white trainers to make it modern, we are yet to decide this. 

Body language and facial expression: he will have a relaxed and chilled body language. We want him, like the artist to have a chilled persona to suit the genre expectations. He will dance in a freeway and have a cheeky and confident facial expression. 

Role within the music video: he will play the best friend of the artist and engage with the same activities as the artist does. He will assist the artist in his daily activities but not steal too much of the limelight as that will belong to the artist. He is someone that will be liked by the audience. We want him to have a persona like Pharrell Williams to Justin Timberlake, someone that will feature often in Sean de la Rose’s videos as a cameo role. 

Planning: Pre-Production Paperwork.

Location Recce: The Location Recce is goes to everyone that is involved in the production of the music video. It helps them find out where it is if they are unfamiliar with the area and then it tells them exactly how to get there. This is helpful for these people because they will not have to worry about getting lost as all the directions are written in detail on there.

Risk Assessment: The risk assessment is given to all of the cast and crew so that everyone is aware of what could potentially go wrong and what to do if this does happen. The reason that this is so important is so that everyone involved will know what to expect of what will be involved in the making of the production. Also so they can know exactly what to do if something goes wrong. For example the car has a risk factor of four, and we will try to prevent this by making sure that everyone in the vehicle will be wearing seatbelts and we will ensure that the driver is not distracted at any point during this process.

Client Release form: The client release form is given to all member of the cast. This acts as a contract that all the members of cast will have to abide to and agree with. This is important because it is important for each member of the cast to be fully aware of what they will be expected to do and get involved in before they start the filming process.

Location Release: The location release form is given to the owners of the locations in which we will be filming. This is because some locations require permission to film there as it is illegal to film on the premises otherwise.

  Production Schedule: The production schedule is basically a list of who needs to be out filming on what days. This allows the cast and crew to know what days they will be working so they will have to make themselves available. It also includes they equipment that they will need and the times they will be needed for.

Planning: Analysis of Three Existing Music Videos.

 
Video 1: Justin Timberlake feat Jay – Z: Suit and tie 
By Sean
Whilst analysing this video, I was mainly interested in the structure and artist representation. 



Performance from the artist:
* Starts relaxed and slow, in keeping with the tempo of the introduction. The audience relates to artist doing everyday tasks, for example, eating cereal and watching television.
* Artist confidently approaches the stage to start the performance of the song.
* Artist is the main focus on the stage.
* Contrary to the opening of the song, the audience is now to engage with the artist as a performer.
* Artist is effortlessly confident performing his song and enjoying the production aspect also.
* Artist is portrayed as a multi-skilled artist, he can sing and dance. 

Concept/abstract ideas:
* The piece does not intend to tell a story inspired by the song but rather showcase Timberlake as the author and performer of the song, also the themes suggested by the lyrics, for example, the confidence and swag he holds 
* A day in the life of a performer, including friendship, collaboration (Jay-Z), performing on stage, attractive backing dancers, editing the song n the studio etc.

Narrative within the video:
* Artist starts his day at work, as many would, eating breakfast with a colleague / friend.
* Once at work he approaches the stage and enjoys performing his song to an audience, dressed and performing in a way that reflects the themes suggested in the song.
* Symbolic / Aesthetic use of female dancers throughout the piece illustrate to the audience the suggestive lyrics sung by Artist.
* Continuing theme of friendship is present throughout the narrative, between Artist and Jay-Z, expressed via the production aspect of the song.

Artist representation: (costume, body language, positioning)
* Artist is dressed in everyday clothes at the beginning of the video as he prepares to start his day with Jay-Z, we see him relaxed and laughing. This is also repeated mid song when the friends are editing off stage.
* As he approaches the stage to perform, we see he has changed into a smart suit. He confidently approaches the stage with his back turned to camera, this builds anticipation for the performance and we see that his costume is adding to his status on stage and his confident body language.
* When Artist is performing on stage he is the main focus.
* The choreography on stage draws attention to Artist rather than the backing dancers on stage, only occasionally does he join the same routine as the other dancers, this helps to add weight to moments in the song. Artist then breaks away from the routine and regains the audience’s focus.
* Varying camera angles pick up many aspects of Artists’ expressive body language whilst dancing on stage.
* We see that Artist’s costume is fuelling his confidence and expression of self on stage, as he dances and his facial expressions fall in line with the lyrics he is singing.


Video 2: Westlife – Smile 
By Darhyl
Whilst analysing this video, I was mainly interested in the content and visual style of the video. 



Themes apparent in video:
* 1940’s Las Vegas life style
* Gambling in Las Vegas
* Love and flirtation 
Lighting and colour:
* Gives the sense of a smoky, dark Las Vegas bar in the 1940s
* Dimly lit, particularly amongst the audience members, offering selective lighting of women’s body parts, for example, a smile or legs.
* Stage lighting is more intense used to illuminate Westlife’s performance of the song.
* Vague, dreamy lighting used to increase the sensuality of the song.
* Images fading and emerging in time with the song.

Body language and facial expressions of characters and artist:
* Artists are relaxed, calm and happy throughout the piece, both on and off stage.
* Slow and sensual movements from the artists, in keeping with the tempo and content of the song.
* Artists sway slowly to music and gaze engagingly with the other characters / audience members.
* Characters / audience members gaze lovingly back at the artists on stage.
* The characters / audience member’s body language and facial expressions are more energetic as they interact with each other, drinking, smiling, laughing, kissing and enjoying the artist’s song.
* Later in the piece, the artists and character’s interact with each other more vibrantly when gambling.
Setting:
* 1930’s / 40’s in Las Vegas
* Poker place
* Champagne / Cocktail Bar in Las Vegas
* Vintage style

Iconography/objects:
* Las Vegas billboard in opening scene to set the scene and context of the piece.
* Champagne and cocktail glasses on the character’s tables showing the traditional setting of a Las Vegas bar.
* Poker tables and poker chips to re-enforce context of Las Vegas and the past times of guests there, entertaining both the characters and the artists.
* Las Vegas casino lights, to add to glitzy setting.

Character representation:
* Characters are seen to be enjoying the specific setting of the piece, all are smiling and laughing and enjoying drinks, gambling and each other’s company.
* All give an impression of being very classy and sophisticated, dressed well, composed and poised.

Artist representation:
* Artist’s are represented as being very loved by the other characters, they seem popular and charismatic, holding the other characters attention throughout.
* Artist’s engage with other characters enjoying Las Vegas and sharing moments of eye contact with them whilst on stage.
* Artist’s seem very comfortable and seasoned within the specific setting, thriving in the environment that they are in.
* Artists are smartly dressed but comfortable 

Use of camera work:
* Camera shots work in harmony with the relaxed setting, following the artist’s journey onto the stage and panning out to their view, the other characters / audience members enjoying their performance.
* Slow camera shots glide over the character’s bar tables and past their glasses, providing glimpses of moments between them, drinking, cheers, kissing, loving looks.
* Camera tends to focus on each artist as they perform solo pieces using close ups and mid-shots, to give more attention to whoever is leading vocals at any moment.
* Vintage filters used to create aged feel. Camera lingers and moves around the artists. 


Video 3: Frank Sinatra – That’s life 
By Kloe
Whilst analysing this video, I was mainly interested in the character representation. 



Body language/movement and facial expressions of artist:
* Main character seems a little sad in mood, perhaps fed up, looking at the ground and walking with little purpose.
* Once he is on the stage and adjusts his costume (putting on hat for example) he perks up and gets a spring in his step, dancing and looking up rather than down to the floor.
* After the tempo of the song picks up he walks with more purpose and presence, interacting with props and scenery around him. 
* As the song builds and positive moments are vocalized, his gestures become more open and expressive.
Costume:
* Main character is wearing a suit, he interacts with the suit to express his mood, playing with his hat and flapping his suit jacket.
* Once on the stage the suit seems to empower him and improve his mood
Interaction with others:
* He seems to be looked down upon by other characters in the piece which makes him lose status.
* When he is chucked out of a venue by another character, this seems to fuel him to become more positive and confident in his body language.
Camera work around him:
* Follows his journey between the streets and the stage.
* Back and white throughout.
* Silhouetted figure when on stage.
* Faded edges.
* Very vintage feel.

From this analysis, some of the similarities I have found are:
* Artist usually wears a suit but in a casual way.
* Black and white colour added.
* Vintage style applied to all / a timeless sense of style portrayed.
* All seem to have the time performing on stage as the focal point to the piece.
* The costumes are most suitable to the piece when the characters are on stage.
* Other characters in all pieces do not add to dialogue or add directly to the direction of the piece but rather enhance lyrics that are being sung, the mood of the piece or the status of the artist.

From this analysis, some of the ideas we will take are:
-Dark Locations
-Black and white themes
- Vintage, timeless look to the video itself.

Research: Censorship

Many music videos can be censored for several reasons. This happens because the content would be seen as inappropriate for younger viewers. This is because some of the images that can be seen doing something that is violent, or maybe they originally use taboo language.
This kind of thing is not what children should be seeing or hearing as they tend to pick things up easily so they will end up repeating these things.

Some of the things that will usually be censored are:
Swearing/Taboo language. This is evident in many videos, but one example is Cee Lo Green’s ‘Forget you’ as some of these words have been changed to suit all audiences, but not many people are aware that the original version has bad language in it.
Sex: A good example of this would be Birthday Sex by Jeremih. Although the sexual theme is obvious with the title, the majority of the song is done discretely but there are a few lines in the bridge that is removed when it is played on the music channels.
Certain political views: Some songs are seen as very controversial because of their political views. For example Shoot the Dog by George Michael was seen as inappropriate because of this. Some people took high offence to the images and lyrics.
Some videos can get banned because of the extremities of the content. Some songs or videos received so much negative feedback that they had to be banned and taken out of the public eye.

In terms of cutting out words in a song, there are a few different ways of doing it so the whole song wouldn’t have to be restricted to the watershed rules. These include:
Blanking: The word cannot be heard but they music is still heard.
Bleeping: A ‘bleep’ sound is used to replace the word.
Repeating: The previous word is heard twice in replacement of the censored word.
Disc Scratching: A DJs scratching of a disc is heard in replacement of the censored word.
Replacing the word entirely: The artist will record a new version of the song, replacing the censored word with another appropriate word.

Planning: Target Audience.

Audience for ‘Follow’ by Sean De La Rose
It is important to know about audiences when creating a music video because if we know who are audience are, we are more likely to know how to appeal to them through the use of conventions. If we identify our audience correctly then it allows us to pick conventions like themes, locations etc that we will use in our music video. It will also allow me to create the right artist representation as I will know to make his similar to the audience. 

My audience:
Age: 12-40+ as it is modern day Jazz  
Gender: both genders 
Race: All ethnicities 
Audience category: B-E. I think this song has the potential to appeal to a diverse audience because of the style of the song. 
Income bracket/status: medium to low. Again, can potentially appeal to a large audience.  
Hobbies and interests: going out, relaxing and socialising with friends, dancing, drinking, playing cards

Audience reaction to my video: I want my audience to respond to this video by ‘audience engagement’ where the audience will be able to read into the message and style of the video. The activities like playing cards and drinking might appeal more to the male audience though. They should have ‘audience expectations’ of the video where they can pre-empt ideas from the genre. Finally, I also want ‘audience engagement’ as I want them to feel connected with my artist and the themes in the music video. 

Why have you identified this group as your target audience?
I have picked such a diverse and wide target audience as I think this song is so mellow that it has the potential to appeal to so many people. It sounds like an old song, following the Jazz genre, but it is sung by a young male therefore I feel like younger people will like it too. The video will express mature and young themes like relaxing with friends and dancing which will appeal to a wide audience.  
This has been beneficial because we can could see who we were aiming this video at and what their preferences are so that we can appeal to the most that the genre allows.

Research: Audiences.

An categorised audience helps an artist to know who to aim their music at. If the audience wasn't categorised, then the artist will not be able to predict whether their music will be successful of not. Audiences can be classified by their qualities or demographics(Gender, age, occupation, interests, etc). There are also different groups that people get placed into, based on what job they do.

A-Top management: bankers, lawyers, doctors, and other professionals.
B-Middle management: teachers, many "creatives" e.g. graphic designers, etc.
C1- Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses,specialist clerical staff, etc.
C2- Skilled workers, tradespersons(white collar).
D-Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers(Blue collar).
E-Unemployed, students, pensioners, casual workers.

Advantages of categorising audiences:
-Makes it easier for artists to target the correct people.
-Keeps system organised and easy to select which people are suited to which type of music.

Disadvantages of categorising audiences:
-Limits artist's possible audience.
-Doesn't consider that everyone is different and has different qualities.
-Doesn't consider anomalies-everyone has different interests despite having the same job, so they won't all be interested in the same music.

The categorising of an audience can be successful in terms of allowing the artist to know who their audience is aimed at, but this can also limit the amount of people that listen to their music if they do not fit into the category that the music is aimed at. Although I believe that the categories make it easier to organise large audiences and groups of people, I do not believe that they are grouped in the best way. this is because they are not grouped in terms of interests, they are grouped in terms of jobs and success. This in fact has nothing to do with the tastes of each individual person.

Research: Dyer's Star Theory.

Stars in the music industry tend to have relatable values that are personal to them, they usually have a lovable personality, have several talents, they are experience within the field, they need to be exposed to the public eye and they need to have a good sense of style. Dyer said that star image is incoherent that is incomplete and "open". And that "The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary to the consumer". This means that they artist needs to be fairly mainstream and commercial while having some unique qualities to them, also. He also said "The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. This means that the artist must constantly be in and out of the public eye because the audience might get bored of an artist due to being in the public eye for a long time. To be a star, you need to have an equally decent relationship with the audience and the industry. The term "star" often gets confused with a performer. The term "star" refers to the set of meanings constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to a loyal audience. Richard Dyer also believe that their should be a clear distinction between those who are simply known for performing pop music and those who are know for being pop stars. Pop performers are described as pop stars=promoted to this status by their management=synergy. A true pop star does have a lasting significance and has 'brand awareness' amongst a wider market over a period of time. Many people have views that back in the 80's-90's, the singers actually had talent and could sing, whereas now, they are just mediocre artists. They also believe that reality shows make the industry solely about money. The industry and audience: -Manufactured to make money. -Products of their record company. -they have long-lasting appeal. Ideology and culture: -Cultural attitudes and values. -Need to promote certain ideology. Character and personality: -Foundation of realism. -The idea of 'what people should be like' -The idea of hegemony. Stars should support this idea. Stars are a commodity of their industry. Beyoncé is a good example of this because she appears as the face of several products to influence people to buy them. This mean that she is no longer just an artist, she is now a product that the industry is trying to sell to the most mainstream audiences as possible in order to make more money.

Research:Diversity in Music Videos.

Diversity in music videos mainly appeal to a niche audience. They challenge the human emotions quite a lot by plying with concept based themes. This can work very well or it can cause a huge loss in money and time. This is the main feature about diverse music videos- they are very unpredictable. Chris Cunningham is a very well know director of these kinds of music videos as he has worked with some very famous artists such as Madonna and Bjork. His main aim is to make sure all his videos are completely outlandish and step away from his comfort zone to create something spectacular. He also plays around with peoples disfigurements and deformities for effect. Many people find his work quite disgusting and uncomfortable to watch. The common themes throughout his music videos are that they are very concept and usually don't make any sense. The star image tends to be minimal and they are very risky. Michael Gondry is more subtle with his ideas to do with diversity. He has worked with Radiohead, The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Daft Punk and Kylie Minogue. These videos also tend to lack in narrative, but they are much easier on the eye. Even though they don't make much sense and they leave the audience confused, they still are much more bearable for an audience to watch. A good example of this would be Daft Punks "All Around The World". The only characters are the dancers dressed in costumes such as robots and mummies. There is no clear narrative and it is just the dancers performing throughout. There is no star image in this video because Daft Punk are not actually seen in the video, so the audience cannot identify or have a relationship with them. The advantages of having a diverse music video can include: -Allows artists to reinvent themselves if they have taken a break from the music industry and want to re-enter with a bang. -Strangeness gets people talking. Whether it's good or bad, people will still be talking about the video, giving that and the artist more publicity and more people will hear about it and be likely to watch it. -People will remember it for longer. Even if they were repulsed by the video, they are very likely to remember it because of it unique qualities. -Money success -Individuality. It will be less likely for another artist to have a video that is similar to theirs. There are, however, some disadvantages to having a diverse music video: -Artists may not get the platform that they want as it is more likely to get censored, so less people will see the video for what it was supposed to be. -It will cost a lot of money in the editing process, so it will be harder to break even in terms of how much the artist spent on making it. -There's a chance that the content could upset audiences. This is because some of these videos can be considered as quite creepy. -There is no guarantee that the audience will enjoy the video. It's always a risk. -More likely to get bad reviews by critics because it isn't following the traditional themes of a stereotypical music video. -More chance of it giving the artist a bad reputation and they may not be as successful as they perhaps once were. -The video could be banned altogether if it's not perceived as appropriate. -The target audience could be limited, because a mainstream audience wouldn't really like this kind of material.

Research: Intertextual References.

Intertextual references are basically references that relate or hint to something else that already exists. This can be anything from impersonating another artist or famous person to using a famous quote. This can go well and work in the artist gaining more popularity and recognition or the public or the specific person being impersonated can get quite offended. This could make an artist lose popularity, not make many sales or gain a bad reputation. A video that has an Intertextual reference is "Paris" by Jay Z and Kanye West. In the middle of the video, a scene from the film "Blades of Glory" is put straight in. Rather than the artists impersonating a person, they have just out in the original scene from the film. Another example of this would be All Time Low's "I Feel Like Dancin'". This video includes many impersonations such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry. They have included quite mainstream artists to impersonate, this could be because the want to appeal to a wider audience, or simply because they are a jokey kind of band and their fans will find it funny that they dressed up as these people especially because they are men dressing as women. Another example of this could be "All the Small Things" by Blink 182, as they impersonate a boyband(Backstreet boys) in the "I Want it That Way" video. This song has become very popular, and even if people don't know the band, they will probably have heard of the song and seen the video. This may be because of the intertextual reference or it may not be. But a lot of people do notice that it is a reference as many people find it funny. A final example of this would be Alien Ant Farm's cover of "Smooth Criminal". Even though they have paid to cover the song they use a lot of intertextual references in relation to Michael Jackson such as holding the monkey in the nappy, the floor tiles lighting up when they are stepped on and the world famous "lean" from the original video. Intertextuality can help an artist become more established and popular, especially if they have chosen something quite popular to do an intertextual reference on. This kind of thing can go quite wrong if it is taken too far, though. This is because the artist may take it too far, thinking that people will see the funny side to it, while others may not. This could make an artist lose popularity which is defeating the purpose of what they intended to do.

Research: Media Institutes

There are four main media institutions that sign artists and produce and promote music(videos). EMI: This institution is mainly for a niche audience, meaning that a selected population would listen to the type of artists that are signed by them. They are one of the worlds leading companies and are a international institution. They own several smaller record companies such as Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Capitol Latin, etc. It also has signed many really big artists such as:- -Katy Perry -Gorillaz -Snoop Dogg -Lilly Allen -The Beetles -Coldplay -Beastie Boys Sony Music Entertainment: This company is much more mainstream. They provide music labels for international stars in a range of genres such as Hip-hop, country, classical, gospel, pop and rock. They also own several small labels including Arista, Columbia, Epic, J records and Legacy. Some of the artist with this label are:- -Avril Lavigne -Chris Brown -Foo Fighters -Willow Smith -Brittany Spears -Beyoncé -Willow Smith -One Direction -Pitbull Universal Music Group: This institution is probably the most popular and will definitely be classified as the most mainstream out of them all. They discover and develops recording artist aswell as markets and promotes music in a wide array of formats and platforms. Artists that are signed by UMG include:- -Akon -Florence and the Machine -Mary .J. Blidge -Busta Rhymes -Nicki Minaj -Justin Bieber -Adele -Cheryl Cole The final company is Warner Music Group. These are still mainstream but they aren't as popular as some of the other companies. It is an international institution, however. The spin off mini labels of this institution are Asylum, Atlantic, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc,Sire, Warner Bros. They also help artists to achieve long term creative and financial success by providing the highest possible quality music. Artists under this institution include:- -Paramore -James Blunt -T.I. -Kid Rock -Plan B -B.O.B -Estelle -Bruno Mars.

Research: History of Music Videos.

1966-1968 The Monkees was a TV show. each episode included a specially made film segment that was created to accompany their songs that was used in their TV series. 1966: The Birth of Top of the Pops. The importance of TOTP to promote a single meant that artists had to creat competitive videos to compete for air time as TOTP has a limitation on the number of videos it showed as it was mainly performance based. 1967: Videos used techniques borrowed from film, such as film effects, dramatic lighting, camera angles and rhythmic editing. Modern Era of Music Videos. 1975: 'Bohemian Rhapsody'- Queen. The Modern Video. Created to replace a live performance on TV. The Beatles had created videos, however Queen were the first to create a video specifically for that song to be played on TV. Bohemian Rhapsody was the first made on video format. Therefore, the "first music video" would be accurate, as long as it isn't confused with "first promo film". 1970-1980: Songs and Moving Images. The key development of the modern music video was video recording with editing processes. High quality videotape recorder and portable video cameras enabled many pop aacts to produce promotional videos quickly and cheaply, rather than using film which was expensive. 1981: MTV Launch and Development of Music Videos. The first video to be aired is Buggles 'Video Killed the Radio Star'. In the early to mid 1980's, artists started to use more sophisticated effects in their videos and added a storyline or plot to the music. 1984: MJ-Thriller. Concept of Short Film. A short film is a music video that has a beginning, middle and end. Jackson's Thriller took the music video format to another level. Top of The Pops begun to censor video content. Some artists would even produce video with the intentions for it to be banned. The reason for this would be that there would be a lot of people taking about it, therefore helping them to gain more popularity and the likelihood for more people to want to listen to the song would increase. 1980s: MTV Success. More and more videos would get played on MTV and the channel became more popular. Madonna became very popular at this time as he had very high sex appeal so a lot of people were interested in her videos. This time was also know as the "Golden Era". From this timeline it is clear that many artists now rely upon the uptake of music videos. But in honesty, I believe that it is taking away the attention of some of the music and focusing on what the artist looks like of how good of an actor/actress they are. No one really focuses on the music and the lyrics solely anymore. This is why I think that even though music videos are helpful in a sense that they allow the audience to have an interaction with the audience, they aren't really good in terms of allowing the audience to only care about the music itself.

Research: Genre Conventions

Research: Goodwin's Theory.

Goodwin's Theory on music videos is broken down into eight sub categories of what most music videos contain of any genre. 1. Genre Characteristics. Music videos often reflect their genre through the use of specific conventions. For example, a R&B video would tend to include a lot of money or expensive things to show their wealth e.g. cars. 2.Relationship Between Lyrics and Visuals. A connection is shown through the visuals to the lyrics. Either being Illustrative; explaining the lyrics visually, amplifying; exaggerating of the lyrics liking to the video and contradicting; opposite to the lyrics. 3. Relationships between music and visuals. Visuals show a connection to the actual music. If the music is upbeat, then so are the visuals. If the music is monotone, then so are the visuals. 4. Star Motifs. Includes many close-up shots of artists, demanded by the record labels to make them popular and identifiable. 5. Notion of Looking. Particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body- women that are seen as sexual objects. There are a huge amount of music videos that could fit into this section nowadays e.g. Rihanna. 6. Intertextual References. In many videos you will find there are often links to other films, TV programmes or other music videos. This is intertextual referencing. 7. Performance, Narrative or concept based. Performance- Focuses solidly on artist/band. Narrative- There is a storyline to the video. Concept- Using a single concept. Can be obscure or surreal. 8. Technical Elements The micro elements that make up the music video(Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Mise-En-Scene) An example of this would be Omarion's Icebox video. You can tell that it is a RnB video because there is a lot of dancing, and Omarion is wearing a shirt that shows a lot of skin, to show off his arm muscles. The lyrics and music have a relationship with the visuals as the beat is quite slow, and the dance moves and editing matches this. There are a lot of close ups of Omarion and Timbaland showing Star Motifs. In terms of notion of looking, there is an attractive girl in the video, and she is showing off her legs and cleavage which suggests that she is the "sexual object" of the video. This video doesn't use the idea of intertextual references. This video includes Concept, narrative and performance. This is because at the beginning of the video, when it shows the montage and internals of a body, we don't really know whats going on. Also, there is a narrative to the video(a confrontation with a girl) and we do see parts of the video where he is just singing. Another video, such as Antenna by Fuse ODG isn't really narrative or concept based even though there is dancing in there, but its mainly performance based as we always see him singing in the video. All music videos have one or more of all of these elements. The way these elements are used however, is how the audience can tell what kind of genre the music video is. This makes it easy for an audience to decide whether they will want to continue watching as they can instantly,within a few seconds, decide what the genre is.

Introduction to Music Videos.

What is a music video? A music video promotes a song by helping to tell a story of the lyrics and it also gives the audience something to remember. A music video serves many purposes. One of the obvious reasons being to simply sell the artists music by giving visual aids to accompany the song and maybe a less obvious reason would be to influence fans into maybe helping to stand up for any world political problems that the artist may believe in or wants to help change. The impact a music video can have is to attract more loyal fans and get them interested in the artist's other music, and also to sometimes draw and emotional impact based on the narrative of the video. The typical elements of a conventional music video include:- -The artist being present in the music video -The editing and setting reflect the genre of the music Synergy is also present in this industry in forms of:- -Radio -TV -Print -Film Soundtrack Other Elements in a music video can include Performance(lip syncing),Narrative(a storyline in video), Thematic(Follows a theme e.g. Gorrillaz), symbolic(e.g. Madonna)and rhythmic(matches the pace of the song). Also, music videos tend to be visually stylish and contain a mixture of both performance and narrative. Music videos such as Rihanna's 'We Found Love' video received a lot of criticism because it wasnt very conventional. The adult themes that were included in the video-sex, drugs, smoking and violence- made it very controversial. The full version even got banned from TV and YouTube because it was inappropriate for younger viewers. This may have portrayed these sensitive topics as being okay and almost fun throughout this video which is why some people were very negative towards it, while other viewers loved it. Linkin Park's music videos can be very Thematic they all seem to be very 'loud' to watch and there is always a lot going on.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kXYiU_JCYtU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> This particular music video has a narrative and performance. It is about a girl who feels lost in the world, and she has no friends. She suffers through life with issues such as self harm and self loathing. This all matches the lyrics of the song(Numb-Linkin Park) "Every step that I take, I another mistake to you. And every second I waste is more that I can take." This allows fans to empathise with the female in the video and also to relate to her, if they are going through the same problems as she is. As this band are not very mainstream, they have a loyal fanbase so they are not looking to become mainstream. This is why they use quite sensitive themes in their songs and videos because they know a lot of people do suffer in silence with these kinds of things.