Material used for shooting video

Behind the Scenes

Setting up the camera

Here I am setting up the camera for the first shot. This was important to get perfect as it is the first thing seen on the screen of my music video. I used a tripod for this shot as I wanted the shot to be a close up and to be still so that when she is lip-syncing we concentrate on the words.

Filming Diary

(what days I shot the different shots and how many days it took etc)

Cast

Potential cast members
 I wanted my music video to feature a girl with the look of pop-punk (or someone that I could make look pop-punk) and these are the girls that I considered featuring i my music video.
I asked the following questions to find out whether they were right for the part or not:

1. Name
2. Age
3. Do you have any acting experience?
4. If the answer to the last question was yes, what was it?
5. Does their look fit the genre well/could it?
6. How many subjects do you study?
7. Do you have a job?

I asked the age of them as I I want a teenage girl that looks appropriate wandering around by herself and old enough to have a relationship, therefore I though the appropriate age was 17-19.

I asked whether or not they have acting experience as that is what they would be doing in the music video. Also I need someone who is confident and follows direction well.

I asked what the acting experience was so that I could see whether or not they would be capable of doing something like this.

I wanted to see whether their look fits the genre or whether or not I could make them look like it does so that it is evident in my music video and expresses my aim of the music video and the genre of the song well.

I asked how many subjects they study and whether they have a job so that I could see whether or not they would have enough free spare time to film the music video but also to ensure that I would not interrupt their studying.

Amelie has the correct look and age of the way I want my cast member to be, however she does 4 subjects and has a job therefore she will have less free time. She also has no acting experience so I wouldn't know how she would act in front of a camera.

 

 Charlotte has the correct look, age and acting experience which are the main priorities whilst I'm choosing my cast, however she does have a job which I wouldn't want to interfere with.

Eloise is one of the cast members who least fits the criteria as she has no acting experience, however she is confident and she studies less subjects than Amelie.

Katie is also not the best match to my criteria as she is only 16, even though she has acting experience I feel that her look isn't very pop-punk.

The person I chose in the end was Charlotte Skipsey as she meets the criteria of what I want in my music video. Also her acting experience will make it a lot easier to film as she will be confident whilst performing.

Story Board

Doing a storyboard was extremely helpful as it meant that my ideas were organised and I could ensure that I hadn't missed anything out. It also meant that I had a shot for every bit of the song, and gave me the experience of what it is like actually working on a music video, film etc as this is what producers actually do when making a new product.


ANIMATIC

Doing an animatic is also important and helpful as it allows me to see whether my ideas actually go with the music and whether or not it would be possible to do the editing to the beat of the music so it doesn't look rushed.

Props

Microphone & Stand

I will be using a microphone and stand to help with the performance element of my music video. These are used in live performances which shows how I am trying to interpret the more indie 'in it for the music' approach.

Black electric guitar

I am using a black electric guitar as I feel the black resembles the genre and the guitar shows the true and real approach. Also, it will add something interesting to the performance as she will be able to use to emphasise the lyrics.

Clock

In one of my shots there is a clock. This represents how she is waiting as she is waiting for a long time therefore the time shows this.

Health and Safety

Doing a risk assessment was important for me as a priority whilst filming was ensuring that my cast and people who helped out were kept safe.

Possible places my video will be featured/advertised

YouTube

YouTube is a website that allows live streaming of all sorts of videos. This would be a good place to feature my video as so many people have access to the web therefore they can view anything online.

































The first thing I did was see what the 'top music videos by genre' are.

This meant that I could see whether any pop punk music videos where in the top charts.

I also typed 'pop punk' in the search bar to see the suggested searches which meant that I could see what is mostly associated with pop punk and what people are mainly searching regarding pop punk.

The final thing I did was search 'pop punk' which then lead me to a '42 song pop punk mash-up' which allowed me to see what the most popular pop punk music videos look like to help influence my own music video and understand whether or not my video would be suitable for YouTube or not.

Instagram

Instagram would be a good place to display my music video as many bands and artists tend to put previews of their music videos onto instagram to tease their followers as there is a time limit on how long your videos are. It is a good place to get noticed as people can search hashtags and come up with the most recent posts that have hashtagged what the instagram user is searching for (e.g. #poppunk)











Here I searched #poppunk which then gave me the most popular hashtags regarding pop-punk.

Here are the results from my search. As you can see there is no videos that have recently been posted where the instagram user has hastagged pop-punk therefore instagram may not be the best thing to use to advertise my product, however more and more people are using Instagram, especially the younger generation therefore if a products target audience was teenagers then this would be a good advertising opportunity.

Locations used to shoot music video

Field
I want my video to feature a field as I think it will portray the loneliness that the song represents as she will look isolated against the rest of the world and show how she is 'waiting for nothing'. I also think that it will look good as the field has a tree that I would like to include in my shot. I also think that having a different variety of shots will look good as the scenery in the background will look good.

Dark room
I think that the dark room will also promote the loneliness that the song is trying to get across. The effect I want is for her to look like there is literally nothing for her to wait for and that she is the victim in the situation. I also think it allows her to get emotions across as it makes us focus completely on her as she will be the only one in the shot.

Alley way
I think the alley way will make it look like everyday life has been interpreted into the video as the song is about actual emotions that the artist who the song is actually by felt and it creates the normality of things people actually feel.

Representation Theories

Laura Mulvey- Male Gaze theory

• States how the audience views women who are presented in the media.
• States that the women are there to be seen and that the use of camera portrays them as sexual objects.

Focus:

• How men look at those images
• How women look at themselves from those images
• How women look at other women (do they see them as unrealistic ideologies and are they supposed to conform?)
• Emphasising curves of the female body
• Referring to women as objects rather than people
• The display of women is how men think they should be perceived
• Female viewers view the content through the eyes of a man

This theory describes how the audience or viewer is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male and how the camera uses particular movements to present women in an idealistic way. The man emerges as the dominant power within the created film fantasy and it states that the film gaze with women and men is the same because women look at themselves through the eyes of a man.

Summary:

1. Music videos emphasise curves of the female body
2. Music videos show women as objects rather than people
3. Music videos display women in a way to please men
4. Females view them in the same way as men

Music videos that support this theory

Richard Dyer- Star theory

'To be a star you have to have certain qualities'

'Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions'

'A star is a constructed image, represented across a range of media and mediums'

'Stars represent and embody certain ideologies'

• It is the idea that icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial reasons and are built to target a specific audience or group of people

-Audience and institutions

-Constructions

-Hegemony (cultural beliefs)

This theory says that stars are fake and their job is to be looked at and to make money from.

• Audiences and Institutions

-stars are made to make money and for that purpose alone.

-audiences want to consume what they think/are made to think is ideal.

-institution modifies the stars image around the target audience.

-a star is made based on what the audience want.

• Constructions

-a star is built for an audience and is not an actual person.

-a persona is created to identify with so stars can differentiate between different stars.

-they are built with someones signature to them

• Hegemony

-we relate to a star because they have a feature we admire or share with them.

-some people may attempt to replicate them which could be negative.

'A star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising) magazines etc as well as films and music' 1979

Stars that support this theory:

Katy Perry                   Beyonce
 

Tessa Perkins- Stereotypes

What is a stereotype?

Someone who is prejudged on their looks or by what they do and then put into a group because they have similarities, based on characteristics, expect them to have certain ideologies and beliefs.

Why do we stereotype others?
-to identify what someone is like (prejudge)
-because the media puts ideologies in our minds
-to understand people we might not come in contact with

Stereotypes are assumptions we make on groups of people.
Stereotyping is not a simple process and contains a number of assumptions that can be challenged:
Perkins identified 5 assumptions

• Stereotypes are not always negative
• They are not always about minority groups
• They can be held at ones own group
• They are not rigid or unchanging
• They are not always false

Stereotypes are not always negative:

People always assume they're negative

e.g. troublesome youths 'hoodie culture' however youth can also be seen as postive (good in exams)

Not always about minority groups:

we can make assumptions about the upper class

e.g. prime minister

Held about ones own group:
People judge people within their own groups

e.g. we all want to be at wyke to get good grades, however within our own group of people there will still be stereotypes (emos, goths etc.)

Rigid or unchanging:

Once it has been created it is hard to change as changing a mass audiences point of view is difficult to change, however they develop through time
e.g. homosexuality used to be seen as 'weird' and 'abnormal' but now it is legal and people are less judgmental

Not always false:
We witness and read stories in the media to shape our minds and understandings. We may witness it first or second hand however there must be some truth in a stereotype otherwise the ideology behind them would not have existed in the first place
e.g. emo's are thought to listen to heavy metal and smoke etc and many 'emo's' do

Implications of stereotypes:

• Stereotypes are not always erroneous in context (usually wrong)
• They are negative concepts
• They are about groups with whom we have little or no social contact; by implication therefore they are not held about ones own group
• People either hold stereotypes of a group or don't. This can lead to negative behaviour towards a member of that group can be predicted
• Because someone holds a stereotype of a group, his or her behaviour towards a member of that group can be predicted
• Stereotypes are an invaluable aid to understanding the world and all stereotypes must have a bit of truth

Target Audience Profile

Doing this shows who my expected target audience will be and how I will try to incorporate the interests of this girl into my own products. This means that I can concentrate on appealing to people who are more likely to buy the products from my artist, rather than a wide audience who it may not necessarily be interested in the product enough in order to buy it, and the music industry nowadays is mainly about money.

Music Video Treatment

Setting will be a dark empty room and a field. Lighting will be dim with spotlight on her. Clothing will be black. She will Lip sync and perform, some of it playing guitar. Editing will be black and white, some slow motion, rewind, fast.

Audience Research

The first thing I did when gathering research on what to include in my music video was ask a random selection of people at my college the following questions:

1. Gender
2. Age
3. What conventions do you expect to see in a pop-punk music video?
4. What bands have you heard of that fall under the genre of pop-punk?
5. If you have watched any pop-punk music videos, what did you like about them? If not, why haven't you watched any?
6. If you were making a pop-punk music video what would you include in it? Why?

I thought that asking the gender of the audience was appropriate so that I can see what appeals to both male and female. It also gave me more ideas as both genders came up with different things.

I thought that asking the age of the audience was appropriate because it told me whether or not college students watch music videos which gave me an idea on the age of my target audience.

I thought question 3 was appropriate as it gave me a stereotypical idea on what people expect to see in pop-punk music videos as the conventions used in music videos are what define the genre of them.

I thought question 4 was relevant because it shows me who the most popular pop-punk artists are and gives me ideas on what artists to use for my research.

Question 5 is relevant because it gave me an idea on what people like and don't like about music videos and what to include in my own music video so that it will attract my target audience.

Finally, I asked question 6 so that I could get ideas from the audience and potentially use them in my own music video to attract my target audience.

Here are my results:

Hair and Makeup Research

The first thing I did when I started my hair and makeup research was do 2 mood boards- one on hair and one on makeup. I feel this helped me a lot because it gave me different ideas to try out in order to give my actress the right look. I think that hair and makeup is important in music videos as it allows the audience to identify the genre and it also accentuates the desired part of the face to create a certain affect.

After I finished my mood boards I thought it would be a good idea to look on YouTube and see what tutorials come up to ensure that I expand my knowledge on different ways of doing makeup.

I think this video is helpful because the end look is something that creates the desired affect that I am looking for.

Costume Research

The first thing I did to get an idea of what clothing my actress was going to wear was go on Google and search pop-punk. I did this to see the general idea of what the world thinks pop-punk is and it also creates a sense of stereotyping.

When I clicked search a lot of similar pictures came up and it even included Blink 182 and Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong. This supports Tessa Perkins theory that stereotypes are rigid and unchanging as these bands have been around for years and are still the stereotypical pop-punk bands and style icons.

I realised there wasn't many women included in the search and seen as my cast is going to be a teenager it is very important that I dress her like someone of the pop-punk genre. I know that Hayley Williams is a huge style icon and thought I would do a mood board on what clothes she wears to inspire the way in which I want my cast to dress.

I also did a mood board on Avril Lavigne as she is a style icon who is a pop-punk singer.

The next thing I did was search 'how to dress pop-punk' on YouTube to get some more inspiration on how to dress my cast. I feel that it is important to get a lot of research on costume because I think it is the most important element in a music video to show what genre it is.

Narrative Analysis of example Music Video

 

Doing this allowed me to understand the different narrative theories more and use them in my own work. I feel that I have expanded my knowledge on how the different theories are represented throughout music videos and how more than one actually applies to them.

Initial ideas in relation to narrative of video

Idea 1

Narrative:

• An element of performance
• Abstract
• Story

This idea has all three elements of the narrative ideas as visually it is abstract and visually it gives off certain moods and feelings however, there is a story and it links with the lyrics and the meaning of the song therefore it cannot only be abstract. It also has elements of performance included.

Cast:

• Girl

I think that having just one person as the cast represents what the song stands for which is a lonely girl 'waiting for nothing and wasting away'.

Conventions:

• Cinematography- I will use varied shots, especially long shots to show the loneliness of her and how there is nothing to wait for to emphasise the lyrics.
• Editing- I will use a black and white edit all the way through becuase many pop-punk music videos have a black and white edit therefore it will link to the genre of the song to make it stand out as a pop-punk music video.
• mise en scene- location- field, empty room, lighting- dark with spotlight on her to represent her loneliness, strobe lights as that is a convention of pop-punk music videos, clothing- mainly black to represent her feelings of been left in the dark, also denim as many pop-punk icons wear denim, makeup- dark, winged eyeliner.

Idea 2

Narrative:

• Story

The story will be about a girl who is going through a break up with her boyfriend and the 'waiting for nothing' will be about her hoping that her boyfriend will come back but she knows he won't.

Cast:

• Girl
• Boy
• Friend 1 (boys friend)
• Friend 2 (boys friend)

I have decided the boy will have 2 friends to emphasise the girls loneliness and how he is left in the better position than her.

Conventions:

• Cinematography- varied shots to show her feelings.
• Editing- fast to show how her thinking and feelings are mixed up and to show how she wants something so badly but can't have it.
• Mise en scene- location- busy streets, bedroom, college- these are all everyday things but emphasis will be put on how alone she is compared to him.

Idea 3

Narrative:

• Story
• Performance

The performance element will be of a girl and her band playing at a gig as she is trying to prove to her ex-boyfriend that she is fine without him so it will be in front of a big crowd. The story aspect will be the background of how and when their relationship ended and her writing the song about it.

Cast:

• Girl
• Band
• Boy
• Crowd

I decided that I wouldn't have many characters because emphasis is going to be put on how the girl is now independent and doesn't need the boy, also the band will be included in the performance and the crowd will be watching and cheering. The boy will be the girls ex-boyfriend and he will be at the gig watching and wanting her back.

Conventions:

• Locations- gig, her bedroom, street- these are all relevant to help explain the story
• Clothing- black to relate to genre
• Editing- fast to show change in feelings and to go with the beat of the song, black and white to link to the genre of the song.

I have chosen to go with idea 1 as I feel it is more creative than the rest as the abstract element will make it more aesthetically pleasing than the others. I didn't choose idea 2 because I thought that it is very common in videos and I wanted to do something a bit different but something that also links to the genre. I also didn't choose idea 3 because I thought it would be hard to get all of the cast needed to create the desired effect.

Lyrics Analysis

(Put 12 images going with the lyrics here)

Timings of Lyrics

(0:00) – (0:03) And so the sky becomes a dream,

(0:03) – (0:06) I never dreamt because I'm just too busy

(0:06) – (0:12) waiting for nothing and wasting away

(0:12) – (0:25) Instrumental

(0:25) – (0:31) Don't tell me it's too hard, you were never there from the start

(0:31) – (0:39) I'm not about to give this up, giving up was never enough (no)

(0:39) – (0:42) And so the sky becomes a dream,

(0:42) – (0:46) I never dreamt because I'm just too busy

(0:46) – (0:51) waiting for nothing and wasting away

(0:51) – (0:54) And so the sky it watched my dreams,

(0:54) – (0:58) fall to pieces right in front of me

(0:58) – (1:03) Coz I'm just too busy waiting for nothing

(1:03) – (1:06) and wasting away

(1:06) – (1:11) and I never wished for anything more, than to find what I've been looking for

(1:11) – (1:17) and I swore to myself I wouldn't lie to myself, how could I let this happen?

(1:17) – (1:24) so I pull myself aside, take the time to tell myself it's alright,

(1:24) – (1:28) coz you weren't there to dry my eyes

(1:28) – (1:31) And so the sky becomes a dream,

(1:31) – (1:34) I never dreamt because I'm just too busy

(1:34) – (1:40) waiting for nothing and wasting away

(1:40) – (1:43) And so the sky it watched my dreams,

(1:43) – (1:46) fall to pieces right in front of me

(1:46) – (1:52) Coz I'm just too busy waiting for nothing

(1:52) – (1:55) and wasting away

(1:55) – (2:04) Instrumental

(2:04) – (2:07) And so the sky becomes a dream,

(2:07) – (2:11) I never dreamt because I'm just too busy

(2:11) – (2:17) waiting for nothing and wasting away

(2:18) – (2:21) And so the sky becomes a dream,

(2:21) – (2:25) I never dreamt because I'm just too busy

(2:25) – (2:30) waiting for nothing and wasting away

(2:30) – (2:33) And so the sky it watched my dreams,

(2:33) – (2:37) fall to pieces right in front of me

(2:37) – (2:42) Coz I'm just too busy waiting for nothing

(2:42) – (2:49) and wasting away

The timings of lyrics is important as it will make my editing more precise therefore ensuring that the shots are in time with the song, creating the desired effect.

Choosing the Song

The first thing I did once I had chosen that my genre is pop-punk was search 'pop-punk bands' on Google. This search gave me the most frequently mentioned pop-punk bands on the web.

I did this as it allowed me to gain an idea on what bands will produce the best songs to make a music video to as I thought that one of the reasons they will be the most mentioned is because of the music videos and people watching them online due to free streaming on website's like YouTube.

I then narrowed my ideas to 3 well known pop-punk bands which were Paramore, Tonight Alive and Green Day. I thought these artists were good because they are well known, which although is not relevant to making a music video, is helpful with the research and getting ideas on what to include in my own music video.

I then searched what songs they have written and produced and listened to them to get an idea on what they sound like and whether or not I could come up with ideas for music videos for them.

In the end I chose wasting away as I feel that I could include an abstract element of performance whilst still linking the lyrics and music video. I also feel that the beat of the song is faster than the others therefore I can make my editing fast which will make my music video more aesthetically pleasing.