Planning: Schedule for Filming

Monday 7th:
On the Monday of filming we will be at our Burghley House location, filming the different parts of the performance. We will try and shoot the entire song in different areas of the grounds, so that we have a range of different shots to use when we put the promo together. 


Tuesday 8th:
On the Tuesday of filming we will be at Rutland Water filming a few of the different memories, for example the stone skimming, throwing and kicking leaves and some of the other outdoor memories we had planned to shoot. We will again try and get a range of different angles and shots from these memories so that we have a large amount of material to work with when we put our promo together. 


As well as these two days of filming, we will be doing some extra filming over a few weekends after the main couple of days, due to the weather on the days as well as the actors we can get, as for some of the memories planned we are using some younger actors meaning we have to film on days when they are free. We have also given ourselves this extra time in case there are any shots we have missed, or any we want to add in if we feel some different shots would work better.

Briefing for Actors

Performer: The performer needs to make sure he keeps the acting simple, making it quite calm and not over acting the performance, by doing this the main focus will then be on the song and the memories/ narrative not the performer. He'll need to be able to sync the song and music well to convincingly play the artist, making it seem that he is the one singing and playing the instrument.

Actors: The actors need to connect with the camera , giving it a less set up and more relaxed feel. They need to act so that it appears to be more of a home video style in some of the shots so that the entire promo doesn't look to fake and professionally done. The actors also need to act to the camera itself, as though it is someone they know filming then, this will also help to create memories that people can relate to and that create emotion in the viewer.

Planning: Costume for actors

For the people acting in our promo/ recreating the memories, we want a very casual look, people wearing their own clothes and styles to sow a range of different people and so helping out promo to relate to a range of different peoples memories, making each seem more individual and personal. However we do want the costumes to have a younger style, so that it realtes more to childhood, compared to the up to date fashions.

Using more casul and relaxed clothing will make the memories much easier to relate to, they won't be wearing clothes that appear unaffordable, or unwearable in every day occasions.

Planning: Costume for Performer

Acoustic artists tend to have a very individual style, however still not going overboard with the clothes they were, they keep their style simple- making sure all the focus is on the music being played and the instrument they are playing. Compared to other performers in other genres such as rock and pop, who make statements with the clothing they wear, acoustic artists make statements with their music, and so don't dress themselves up in expensive clothes and accessories/ costumes.  Acoustic artists tend to express themselves through their music not through fashions or other outlets.

For our promo we will be following this style, keeping the costume of the performer very simple and understated, with a simple t-shirt/ jumper and a pair of jeans, so that we make sure the main focus is being kept on the song.

A plain coloured jumper will mean that all of the focus will be on the instrument being held, as this will be the object that stands out in the shot.

A checkered shirt as seen worn by acoustic artists a bit and so it will be helpful to consider when planning the costume as it will follow the usual conventions of an accoustic music promo.

A simple pair of jeans will work well with the rest of the costume for the performers and suits the genre well, as they give a very casual and relaxed feel.

Planning: Locations

One location we are looking into using is Rutland Water, it is a very picturesque and a family based area, and offers a number of different activities and so will work well for the both the filming of memories and performance. Being such a large area, it is quite quiet in most places allowing for a range of different areas to be used when framing and planning our shots. It is also well taken care of meaning that there will be nothing there to ruin the shots e.g. litter. To check is this area would work I went and visited Rutland Water, I took a camera and took some shots of the area so that I could make sure the rest of my group were happy with the location, these initial images turned out well and from these we could get a good idea of the area some some places we could use to film.

Another location we are looking at using is Bourne Woods, we feel that this location will work well in creating some of the memories we want to look at due to its mix of nature, cycle and riding routes and artwork/ sculpture. It is an area that will work well for a variety of shots. It also has a small park which will be useful for filming as visiting parks relate to almost everyone's childhood memories, it is also quite a common area as there are woods all over the country, making it a very relatable location for everyone viewing the video.

As well as these outdoor locations we were also looking at using some more built up locations such as towns and some indoor locations such as homes ect.. we are looking at using these as well as outdoor rural locations so that we can make sure we do get a range of different shots for memories, not just focusing on the more rural locations. In homes we can stage birthday parties and special occasions and smaller more forgotten about memories such as small things that most people do with their families.

Another location we are looking into using for both the performance and the acting side of our promo is Burghley House, we feel this will be a good location to use due to the range of shots that we can get from it as well as the idyllic setting due to the house itself and the upkeep of the gardens, as well as the wildlife within the grounds.

Planning: Shot List

Intro-

Family photographs

Pan/Zoom shot introducing performer (holding guitar) 

Introduction into a memory- giving an idea of the theme of the music promo
(Performance)

Verse 1-

Bike ride

Birthday/ birthday cake

Shot of candles 

Eating ice cream

(Performance)

Verse 2-

Skimming stones

Spinning

Eating Sweets

(Performance)

Verse 3-

Stepping stones/ paddling water

More old photographs

Holding hands

Play ground games

(Performance)

Verse 4-

Fair shots

(Performance)

Building blocks /drawing

(Performance)

Verse 5-

Halloween

Shots of pumpkin

Ghost/ woods

Verse 6-

Focusing on lights ands effects of light giving a 

more relaxed and calming feel

Eyes closing

Day ending 

Balloons

Performer walking away (promo finishes)

Throughout the promo, we will use cross dissolves, jump cuts and fades to join different shots together dependant on the individual shots and what works best. We will also add performance in throughout the promo, not just in between each verse, and we will try to add the narrative into places where the performance breaks.

Planning: Storyboard

Tests and Planning

For these shots we took the opportunity to visit a fair, and we thought this would be quite a prominent childhood memory for most people , I feel that these shots have worked well as they portray the emotions of being in this environment, with the lights, rides and games. We have also taken some images of Halloween related objects (the pumpkin and the bat) to try and portray the idea of childhood memories for certain events throughout the year, I like the shot of the pumpkin, i feel the lighting works really well and it creates a good final effect. For some of the shots effects have been added to the picture, to create an older looking photograph, relating to the theme of memories.

Representation in the Acoustic Genre

In the acoustic genre, artists are expected to be quite natural performers, they are seen to be down to earth, and less materialistic than artists seen from other genres, focusing more on their music than there look. They are also expected to be good singers live, and not to be in any way computer generated, coming across as real and not made for sales purposes.

Representation

"Rock is masculine, pop is feminine... real men aren't pop and women... don't rock" Norma Coates, 1997


This is one of the general themes seen a lot when talking about representation, it looks at the idea that certain genres of music are only suitable to by played by one gender being that male or female. For example in rock/metal music, the artists are generally male performers and so their music promotes ideology of male dominance. The music itself from this genre also reflects of the ideas of representation by reinforcing the idea of masculinity, with the power chords and extreme vocals, the stage performances, the use of guitars and other instruments and the stereotyping of females as a sex object. 


This all came about by music video producers representing girls by 'borrowing' a dated stereotype from the showgirls of silent films and burlesque girls. Due to this, influence has been put of girls in the real world, as from their exposure to this image, they try and match it as they feel that is what is excepted. 


Messages of Representation 

• The objectification of woman and girls 
• Women and girls are disposable and interchangeable 
• Women's own sexuality only exists in relation to men
• Women and girls are passive and acted upon- there to be watched
• Women and girls only have ascribed meaning in relation to men (directly or implied)

Values of Representation 

• Women and girls are 'cheap' and 'easy' 
• Women and girls are their bodies
• Women and girls are powerless 
• Women get rewarded for sexual behaviour 
• Women are commodities on the open market 
• Women who don't fit the stereotype are not women

Tests and Planning

With this test, I was practicing the idea of taking pictures of each stage of an drawing and them putting them together using iMovie, making them a very simple moving picture. I have used stick people so that it still relates to the childhood theme of our promo. I like the way that this test has turned out and I think it it would work well in our promo, as it illustrates well a child's view of relationships, being a very simple and innocent view. From this test I can see that in order to make it look more effective I would have to make sure that the camera was aimed in the same spot, viewing the image with each shot that is taken to stop the image moving to different parts of the screen when put together. 

This video is the same as the one above, however I have removed the fade to white transitions from it, I think that this is more effective as the clip moves faster, and gives a better final effect. 

Tests and Planning

We have done these tests to see what some of our initial ideas will look like put into practice, we have decided to base our music promo on the idea of a mixture of childhood memories, involving different occasions and props e.g balloons as seen below. By showing a range of images we will be able to provoke different thoughts and emotions within our audience, as they will be able to relate most images with their own memories.

These two shots illustrate the idea of the simple, small object being re-invented into something fun and exciting, that which a child would do. In these shots we have blown up and thrown balloons into the air to try and capture a fun and enjoyable moment, from doing this test we can see that this idea will be effective and would work well in our promo, however we can see that we need to frame the shot much better, allowing a little glare from the sun, but not letting it take the shot over completely, as seen in the third image. We can also see from these shots that we made need a much clearer more simple backdrop, the trees work well in creating an effective and interesting shot, however it takes the focus away from the balloons which we intended to be the main point of focus. The light in the first and second image, work well in creating an idealistic looking environment.

We also decided focusing on childhood memories, that we should get some shots of a child's playground as this is something that is a main part of childhood. We have tested the idea of showing the elements of the play ground as well as showing people using the swings and slides ect... these shots can be framed and made to look more artistic, for example showing someone using a swing, framing the shot with the sun glaring in the background. Using a child's play area will give the promo a much more fun element, and will portray the ideas and images we are trying to get across to our audience.

We have also tested the idea of illustrating different events and occasions, below we are illustrating halloween and the idea of dressing up and going trick or treating. We want to use very simple short films and images that can be related to almost everyones childhood, we feel that this will be a good way of showing narrative compared to just following one story the whole way throughout the promo.

Video Tests 

The three above images, show testing of the idea of playing in the leaves. We has the idea of throwing and kicking them towards the camera lens as a way of showing more interactivity, making it appear more like a home video, rather than something that has been professionally produced and that appears very impersonal. I like the way these shots have turned out and think that they create a very effective effect.

The two above shots show the idea of illustrating occasions such as halloween, following on from the image of the ghost, showing more of an acting element, we wanted to try to show the idea of a child playing up to the camera, and just generally having fun and enjoying themselves, I think these shots work well and give a quirky, interesting element. 

With these shots we wanted to test the idea of just loosing yourself by spinning continuously round in circles, a game that some used to play as children. We wanted to show different views of this to give more a sense of motion, one showing an establishing shot, another showing the participants view whilst spinning making it personal, as well as putting the viewer in the video as it will give the effect that they are the ones spinning, triggering some childhood emotions and memories for them, and another showing the face of the participant, showing emotions and reactions to the game/action.

Audience Research

What music videos do you like 

and which elements do you think work well and are effective?

Do you prefer videos based on performance or narrative?

In a music promo do you think having one main point of focus or many would be more interesting/ effective? 

What do you associate with the acoustic music genre?

What shot types do you think are the most effective for this genre?

Long shots, close-ups, mid shots ect…

What locations and themes do you expect to see throughout an acoustic music promo?

Chosen Music Institution

We have chosen 4Music as our institution as we think its the best choice for our genre of music and the type of promo we are planning to produce, 4Music is one of the only channels that plays a very wide variety of music, and it is also the one that reaches the widest market due to the fact that being available on digital TV, it reaches the Republic of Ireland. It also has the larger weekly viewing percentage. 

This channel is owned by Box Television (Bauer Group/ Channel 4) and has sister channels with Channel 4 e.g. Film 4, More 4, Kerrang, Kiss, Magic ect..  and so has the advantage of being able to advertise of a number of different channels and reach a much wider audience. 

4Music also gains a much larger audience due to the range of music and shows that it broadcasts, unlike other channel they offer a range of different genres which suit a number of different tastes, and also broadcast certain TV shows gaining a different audience, making it a more entertaining channel and one that people watch rather than just have on in the background whilst carrying out other tasks, meaning that our music promo will get a lot of exposure. 

Institutions: Music Channels

Weekly viewing: 1.7%

This music channel/ company, reaches a fair amount of people, it focuses on mainly charts and pop music, which reaches a large number of listeners, however not as many as could be reached as it doesn't play an extremely wide variety of music genres. This channel is owned by box television (Bauer group/ Channel 4) and so has a large number of sister channels in Channel 4, Film 4, E4, 4Music, Kerrang, Magic, Q, Smash Hits and The Box. This station started as a pirate radio station and so has been seen as quite a well known influential station.

 

Weekly viewing: 7.4%

This radio station is used generally to play up to date chart music, however it does play a larger range of genres, compared to other stations. It has one of the largest weekly viewings. It has mainly available in the United Kingdom however it is available on some digital television providers and so can be on certain channels in the Republic of Ireland. It also has its own website, as well as Facebook and Twitter pages. As well as music this channel also broadcasts tv shows, and so reaches a much wider audience. This channel also has the rights to broadcast most summer festivals and through links with sister channels hosts it own, 'T4 on the Beach'.

Weekly viewing: 1.2%

This stations is focused mainly on the rock music genre, and so only reaches a small selected audience. It started as a rock music magazine and then branched out to tv. This station is an open one, and so the main majority of music played comes from texted requests from their viewers, so that don't have as much of a variety of music to suit all viewers played.

Weekly viewing: 3.8%

This is an American company based in New York city and so reaches an is exposed to a wide range of views and different genres of music, this channel therefore played a range of different genres as well as chart based music, it also broadcasts a range of television shows. It does now however focus more on the broadcasting of these tv shows than it does of the music. MTV has been around for a large number of years, and so has become quite an influential station and one of the most well knowns, it has however been criticised over the years for devaluing the importance of music.

Weekly viewing: 0.9%

This channel plays mainly classic pop and music from the 70's, 80's and 90's. They have specific times slots for power ballads and music from movies. This channel is aimed at a specific audience and does not suit everyones tastes as it only plays a very specific genre of music. To begin with the bliss logo was quite bold in gold colouring, this however has developed over time to suit the genre of music played.

Media Pitch

Post Modern(ism)

Definition: Texts are created by copying and (re)using ideas and images ect... that have been used in previous texts; often in playful, schocking and unconventional ways.

Music Promo: Music Video Theories

Andrew Goodwin's theory: Gym Class Heroes: 'Stereo Hearts' ft Adam Levine

This music promo shows some main features of this theory, a lot of focus throughout is on the artists, the main artist being the man seen clearly throughout, shown through a variety of different shots, however as well as him the secondary artist is also shown throughout this promo, through the TV's. This relates to Goodwin's theory as he talks of record companies wanting a lot of focus to be on the artists.

This music promo also demonstrates some characteristics of this genre, it shows the band playing, this however is done through unconventional means to keep in with the narrative of the promo, the band are seen performing in shadows and reflections. This promo also has some choreographed dances throughout.

 This promo also features some intertextual references, to the Beatles album cover where they are seen walking across the street, in the way that they are lined up and their shadows can be seen.

Steve Archer's theory: James Morrison: 'You make it Real'

This video shows this theory well as the artist is part of the narrative throughout the music promo, however at parents there are some more obvious elements of performance.

In these two shots above the artist can be seen from mid and close up shots performing, whereas in the shot below the artist can be seen as part of the narrative.