Draft Treatment, Padlet and Final Treatment.

Once we had completed convention research and decided on our artist and song, we complied potential ideas of our music video and completed a draft treatment, embedded below. Once we had completed our draft treatment, we then displayed our treatment to a group of people and gave them the opportunity to feedback using Padlet about their opinions of the treatment, positive comments and criticism, enabling us to rethink and improve our ideas.

Name of artist: Little Mix

Title of track: Move
Date: 5/12/13

Outline of ideas for music video (Narrative, Characterisation…) and Justification of ideas relating to artists, genre and audience questionnaire and focus group information       ·This will be a performance-based video formed around a party scene as our focus group stated that this would be preferable in relation to the song. A Christmas or birthday party scene – reference to lyrics. ‘Feeling like it's my birthday, Like Christmas day came early’.        ·Green screen scenes, which include the artist singing to the camera. This is a typical feature within Little Mix’s videos so this needs to be included to incorporate their star motifs.        ·Dance routines should be included throughout the video as the focus group claimed that they enjoys pop music videos which include a strong dance routine and this is a typical convention of pop music.        ·There will be the use of lots of bright colours, this will be incorporated through costumes and props. This is a convention of pop and a star motif of Little Mix.

Resources that will be needed? (Actors, props, settings…)        ·4 “Little Mix” members        ·Extras: Party background and dance routine extras        ·Camera & Tripod        ·Party location        ·Dance location        ·Party equipment (Part poppers, glow sticks, streamers, balloons, banners, cake and candles)        ·Costumes: Little Mix members outfits and extras costumes (provided themselves)

Our treatment is in draft form to enable us to improve and develop our ideas in progression of creating our music video. To gain feedback about peoples thoughts in reference to our ideas about our music video , we created a Padlet to gain feedback. (Link embedded below)

Link: http://padlet.com/wall/j4xg57idqc

Final Treatment

Following the draft treatment , we have made amendments to the areas that appeared to be lacking. They felt that there wasn't a structured narrative to the video and that some of the ideas may be a bit far-fetched. Below this the aspect will felt needed changing.

Narrative

      At the beginning of the video it will show the girls getting ready together for their up and coming party. The main theme will follow the girls 'playing games' with their love interest. The video will be leading up to the party , this will involve images of them getting ready , singular shots of them singing to the camera in front of a green screen and group shots of them dancing together. There is a lot of interaction with this 'Love interest' over social media and phone networks. Toward the middle and end of the video the party will be the dominant and will just show the girls having fun together. In this part of the video the 'love interest' will make an appearance and highlight the plot twist which is that all the girls have been talking to the same guy.

      We have decided against using a choreographed dance routine in our music video as this may be a bit far fetched as it have proven difficult to get numerous people together to create this part of the video. 

Focus Group Process.

For our further research into potential ideas from our music video, we constructed a focus group and asked them developing questions in relation to ideas of piecing together our music video, based on their suggestions. The video of our focus group session is embedded below:

 

From our focus group, we have learnt that the best location for our chosen song would be a party, or somewhere such as a dance hall or studio. Their favourite music videos were Katy Perry's videos because of they find them fun, Jessie J's 'Who's Laughing Now' because of the bright colours used in her videos, Beyonce's videos because there is always a strong dance routine, and Michael Jackson also because of a strong dance element. The focus group found the elements they prefer in a video is a wide variety of shots, and dislike when one member of a group is predominantly in the centre of the video.

They also mentioned that they do not like when an artist is stationary throughout a large section of the video and very little changes. Another group member said they do not like videos that have no apparent relevance to the song they are videoing for, and is totally random. In asking if they prefer a narrative or performance based video, the majority of the group agreed that for this particular song, a performance based narrative would be best, as the song is about dancing and the lyrics are not as deep as other pop songs. They all also agreed that a dance routine would be key in this video, as the song is upbeat and would be very performance based.

From this discussion with the focus group, we can apply this information into the production of our video. For example, we shall include a strong dance routine, possibly in the location of a dance hall, studio or party scene. We shall make our video fun and use bright colours, with possible use of green screen to enhance these colours, also a star motif of the artist Little Mix themselves. Also in our video we shall apply the wide variety of shots into our video and ensure that all video artists have an equal starring role, with no dominant members of the group. We will also take extra care in making sure the video artist does not remain stationary in our video and keeps moving and changing.

Conventional Music Video Analysis.



Conventions are stereotypes attached to certain genres of which the genre adheres to, for examples conventions of pop include bright colours, and rock music includes darker colours and possibly instruments such as guitars and drums. The idea of conventions and adhering to these conventions displays our understanding of the conventions of pop and displays we fully understand the detail required when accomplishing a music video by a pop artist. In research into these conventions, I completed a six frame analysis in response to this and the conventions pop artists display in certain music videos. My research and links to evidence of these conventions are displayed below.

This first screenshot from Little Mix’s ‘Wings’ denotes a typical convention of a pop music video, consisting of use of girly and bright costumes. The screen shot has all members of the band in the shot, connoting a unit of best friends and girls having fun. “We Don’t Hear No One Saying” are the lyrics playing in the screen shot, connoting how everyone is in the party mood and is joining in to dance with them. The star motifs of Little Mix include bright colours, dancing and collaborative shots of the entire band together, all of which are present in this screen shot and contribute to a stereotypical pop music video. The narrative of performance and having fun with your friends is displayed, typical of a pop music video.

The second screenshot from Little Mix’s ‘Wings’ shows the stereotypical pop convention of close ups. This connotes that Little Mix are stereotypical pop band and are displaying the stereotypes of pop music videos clearly. As this is an introducing shot, the instrumental is playing, which is upbeat and pop influenced, also contributing to a representation of stereotypical pop conventions. In other Little Mix videos, they also include close ups of each member, conveying one of their star motifs, for example, their video for ‘Move’.

This third screenshot denotes a close up of one member singing to the camera, a stereotypical convention of pop. This shows that they are a stereotypical pop band who lip sync to their music in videos. The lyrics “Mama told me not to waste my life” are playing in the video, emphasising that they want to be a fun girl band who are living the best they can, basically living their dream. Little Mix also have a star motif of lip syncing their songs, singing to the camera in all of their videos, this suggests they enjoy singing and want to be centre of their videos.

In this screen shot, the girls are seen dancing in their video, a common stereotype of pop. The dancing connotes that their song makes you want to dance and have fun, similar to common pop songs. The lyrics “get your back off the wall” are playing, adding to the theme of dancing and legging go/having fun. Little Mix also include a star motif in all their videos of dance routines, making them a stereotypical pop girl band.

This fifth screen shot is denoting the use of bright lighting, a popular convention of contemporary pop music videos. The lighting connotes that the song is a bright and vibrant genre (pop) and that it is very positive, the light also is different colours to attract the eye and make the video as happy and fun as the song itself, all about having fun and dancing along with everybody together. The use of lighting, especially bright coloured lighting is dominant in Little Mix videos, as they are a pop girl group who release very upbeat and happy songs.

The final screenshot denotes the use of green screen, a very popular video element across a variety of pop music videos. In this screenshot, the use of different coloured backgrounds for each of the members denotes how each member is an individual character in the band, but when they are together there is no colour as they are a united girl group who are also very close friends. The use of green screen is also a star motif of Little Mix, as they have used green screens in all their music videos to date.

Copyright Permission Letter.

The next step in our process of completing our advanced portfolio we have completed a copyright permission letter, stating to the company who create and produce Little Mix's music that we would like to use the music asked for, Move by Little Mix for educational purposes, in this case our music video. It will impact our video as we will legally have the music we need in order to make our music video.                                                                                                                                                  

Faye Curry

138 Whitethorn Avenue

West Drayton

Middlesex

UB7 8LD

Monday 11^th November 2013

Sony Music Entertainment

9 Derry Street

London

W8 5HY

Dear Mr. Morris,

                            Our names are Faye Curry, Kala Hill and Georgia Pearce and we are currently studying A-level media at Swakeleys Sixth Form. Part of our coursework is to create a music video and we would love to use a song by Little Mix, which are one of your artists that you represent. Therefore we are writing to ask for your permission to use their most recent song ‘Move’ as a backing track for our project.

This video will be for educational purposes only and we will not be gaining any credit from it; all copyright credit will go to Sony Music Entertainment. In order for our work to be moderated the video will need to remain online for three months. After this period the video can be removed if there is an issue. Additionally we are able to make a hard copy of our video, which will be sent straight to the moderator and will thus not be publicised if there is any concern over the use of the song in question.

Yours Faithfully,

Faye Curry                                   Kala Hill                                Georgia Pearce          



Understanding Of Copyright:

I have learnt that it is important to protect media such as films/songs etc to prevent any acts of piracy and ensure that all work is original and not a copy of anybody else's material. It is essential that we ask permission from Sony Music because we are not the original creators of the music we wish to use and we must be seen as asking for this permission to use a certain song, to ensure the original artist gains all credibility and funds for the song we are asking to use.

Audience Research.

In discovering our target audience, we needed to collate information on the demographics and psychographics of our potential audience. Below is our presentation on audience demographics and psychographics we feel will be most suitable, created by myself.



The image below was created by group member Faye Curry using Polyvore to establish the clothing interests of our targeted audience. Main items include brightly coloured clothes, Converse, bows, flower crowns, skinny jeans and prints such as the American flag and comic print.

This information will be used to determine our audience when researching further and making our music video.

Group member Kala Hill researched further into artists, focusing on Little Mix and The Saturdays.
These are her findings;

The Saturdays "Disco Love":

It highly represents typical pop conventions. It denotes all the group members having fun, going on a day trip out together through all the different eras of disco. They are all wearing very girly outfits that are stylish and relevant to the era they are in, following a story line. Lots of dancers and extras are involved in the video but The Saturdays are always the main focus through out the video as they are singing the song. The camera shots dominate in close ups of members and wide shots of dancers in the scene.

Little Mix "How Ya Doin'?":

This music video has many outfit changes and shot changes and uses bright and vibrant colours throughout. It's a very pop conventional music video, starting off with the group members in a room getting ready together. They then have shots of each member in a different room, Jesy and Perrie in a black and white striped room and Jade and Leigh-Anne in a pink and yellow room with neon lights. They then have a dance scene towards the end of the song with extras dancing a routine with them, the room has bright UV lights. The rooms are very bright and eye catching, matching up with their outfits and portraying the song as a typical, fun pop song.

This information will benefit us when we begin to create a music video that will suit our target audience.

Questionnaire.

We then gathered suitable questions based on our preliminary research into potential audiences for our video. Group member Faye Curry then created an online survey on Survey Monkey, publishing a link so we can collate responses from people taking our survey. The web link is below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QXLRZSN

Results Analysis:
Below is a video of our results analysis, screen recorded by Faye Curry and voice recorded by myself.

We completed and analysed our survey to determine a solid category of our target audience. From the summary, I have learnt that our target audience will be teenage girls aged 17 to 18 who are part time employed or unemployed, who are in full time education. They prefer the pop genre of music and listen to Capital FM Radio. They buy in shops such as Primark, River Island and New Look and so we will style our artist in that style of costume when shooting and creating the video.


Breakdown Of Audience:
Below is a GoAnimate Video created by Faye Curry of our ideal targeted audience, drawn from our results.Questionnaire results by fayecurry5 on GoAnimate

Audience Theories.

In todays' lesson, we were introduced to and analysed two audience theories, the first theory The Effects Model, or the Hyperdermic Model, created by Croteau, Hoynes in 1997. My understanding of The Effects Model is that it is a theory that the media is injecting potentially brain washing ideas into our minds. The media dictates the messages it is projecting to us, the audience powerless in choosing to recieve these messages and ideas. The audience are almost 'doped' by these media ideas viewed in everyday media text and the effects can by mainly of a negative impact. This can be applied to music videos, for example if a teenage girl watches a music video of a female artist she idolises wearing a certain fashion style, dancing in a certain way and partying, the teenager will be influenced to mimic the same things their idol is portraying in that video.

The second audience theory made known to us was the Uses and Gratifications theory, created by Blumler and Katz in 1974. My understanding of this theory is that it represents the opposing idea to that of the Effects Model, in which the audience is active and use the text for such things as information, personal identity, social interaction and entertainment. This can be applied to music videos in a situation where everybody is talking about a certain video you have not yet seen, and so it is part of social interaction for you to watch it to be included in that conversation. The audience use the media text for their own pleasure and gratification.

We then viewed a music video in class which is embedded below, to apply these theories to the video and analyse them through the video. The chosen video was 'Time - Chase and Status Feat. Delilah'.

This is my analysis of the music video, applying the two theories.

Effects Model
-You can get help if you are in that same situation
-It had a positive message conveyed at the end through the refuge help contact details
-The video had a dominant representation of men being violent
-It also had a dominant representation of women being weak and vulnerable
-The video conveyed a strong message throughout that domestic violence is wrong
-The creators of the video had hoped to make an impact with such a distressing but meaningful video towards a sensitive issue

Uses and Gratifications
-The audience can feel gratification that they can get help through the refuge appeal and seek that information through the video
-The audience can feel that they can sort out their similar situation at home because it relates to them and they know they're not alone in that certain issue
-There is a strong message that violence is wrong, leading people away from the idea of domestic violence being okay
-It provokes social interaction, meaning the victims can feel they can talk to somebody because they have seen the video and understand
-The video can help someone admit that they are in that same situation and seek help
-The video has a gratifying feeling that you are in a much better state than many people today, the video diverts you from issues you are facing
-The video is well scripted to give a powerful impact on audiences watching it

I then had to independently analyse a music video of my own choice. I decided to analyse 'Same Love - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Feat. Mary Lambert' , embedded below. The video tells the story of a male teenager facing troubles with his sexuality, his parents disagreeing and he is struggling to accept who he is. He then finds a partner and they get married, his parents also accepting who he is.

By applying the two audience theories, my analysis was as follows:

The Effects Model
-The video has a positive message towards homosexuality, the couples conveyed in the video are happy and proud to be who they are
-The video shows people that if they are also in the same situation (their parents don't agree with their sexuality), it is okay and they will understand in the end
-It conveys a dominant representation of straight people being homophobic towards homosexual people, portraying through the perspective of the male couple that it is hurtful to be discriminated against
-the creators of the video hope to have a positive impact on people and encourage them to be who they are and proud to be who they are

Uses and Gratifications
-The video dominates in happiness and positive messages of same sex couples, encouraging people of the same sexuality to accept themselves and be proud of it
-The video can help people realise who they are and tell others about it
-They can speak out about it without being afraid of discrimination, knowing people have seen the video and can understand their problems
-People watching the video can find pleasure in the video, seeing people being happy and proud of who they are and not caring about anyone else's opinions
-The video can trigger social interaction, talking about gay rights and the recent issue with legalising gay marriage, strongly shown in this video as being the right thing to do.

Introductory Post.

Hello and welcome to my blog.

My name is Georgia Pearce, I'm 17 years of age, candidate number 3132 and I am currently studying A2 Media Studies at Swakeleys Sixth Form as of September 2013.
Over the course of AS Media Studies, I have gained in depth knowledge of key terminology in the subjects of camera use and editing. Alongside this, I have gained useful and beneficial skills regarding the use of iMovie, where us students upload, edit, and present our current projects. This has opened up my vision into the many ways our projects can be transformed, using the iMovie program. Later on in the AS year, we covered the music industry and the contemporary issues it faces, such as piracy.
Another unit was covering TV Drama, gaining knowledge of the conventions of a TV Drama and representations in those dramas, such as sexuality, disability, age, gender, race and religion, being able to analyse them in a wide range of clips from poopular TV Dramas. This knowledge was then applied to the AS Media Studies exam.
We also completed a Media Portfolio, working in a group to complete a two minute clip consisting of the opening of a movie we created ourselves. The project I completed was alongside one other student, and we decided on a horror movie, progressing through planning stages such as a storyboard, treatment, trial shots and editing, completing the task to the best of our abilities.

Through this blog, I shall document the progression in my A2 Course on each unit covered, giving detailed accounts into the steps required to follow the journey to the final project. In this coursework, our advanced portfolio final projects will include a Music Video following conventions of the genre chosem, a digipak corresponding to artist chosen and a magazine advert advertising the digipak.

My group members include Faye Curry and Kala Hill, the links to their blogs are embedded below:

Kala: http://kalalouise4.blogspot.co.uk/
Faye: http://fayecurrymedia.blogspot.co.uk/