Planning locations

The first location we will use in the filming of our music video is our form room at school, it is the Drama Studio so is ideal for filming and will have lots of plain backdrops that wont inter fear with the conventions of the dance genre we are trying to create and help mise en scene as excess objects that are not part of the video wont be in the shots. It will also be easy for us to use the lights that are permanently in place and at our disposal over the course of production.

Another location is a large cabin at the home of one of the members of the group. It has been used by the residents of the house as a party venue previously so it will be no trouble for us to make it into a club for the purpose of our music video.The iconography and decorations we use will help this as well. We agreed on this location as we decided it would be easier and much more cost efficient if we used a building owned  by someone in the group so there wont be a charge for using the space.

Due to the fact we don't have lights to use outside we decided to only film outside when we have to, this will only happen when we are popping champagne and we will improvise with torches and lamps as lighting for the short scenes outside.

Story Boards

Below are story boards for my groups proposed plan of what will be the making of our music video. Although this is the final plan some of the clips in the video may be different due to changes when it comes to filming the video for real. 

Final Group Advert

Final Group Digipak

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin's theory allows people to analyse music videos based on 7 main principles:

1. Links between lyrics and visuals
2. Links between music and visuals
3. Genre Characteristics
4. Intertextuality reference
5. Voyeurism
6. Demand of the record label
7. Performance, narrative or concept based videos

He says that many music videos are constructed with links between the visuals, music and lyrics. The relationships between them are constructed throughout the video and the different shots and effects used in the video give them the correct representation. The record labels obviously want to sell their records, they do this via the use of voyeurism to increase the videos attractiveness to their target demographic. He also says that all videos are either; performance, narrative or concept based.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia4T_-zAvzo

The video begins with an establishing shot of a desert scene, there is a link between the lyrics and the visuals as Goodwin says after this, Chris Brown says "Too much light in this window, don't wake me up" which you can see him with a face full of sunlight which is waking him up. However this is contradicted as he speaks about having a coffee with  no sugar, this is something you have when you are awake or in order to stay awake.

It seems to have more of a narrative base to it as Chris Brown again links his lyrics to the visuals. The woman in the video has left as he is woken up, the lyrics at this point say "If I wake and you're here still, give me a kiss, I wasn't finished dreaming, about your lips". The link between these suggests he is going to tell us about a love story, as he is also using the desert as a scene when he is solo this could symbolise the
loneliness of being broken hearted about the woman in the video.

The line "Don't wake me up" (which is also the title of the song) is repeated as the main chorus and used a lot throughout the video, this is saying that he doesn't want to be woken up from his dream. This could perhaps mean that as he may of lost the love of the woman in the video that he likes to dream about her as this is the last remaining place he can be close to her and still think about the time they spent together. Further on in the song he says "If your heart is a pillow, this loves the bed" which also links in with him only being able to reconnect with her whilst he is asleep in his bed.

Another link is seen in the visuals as he is following the woman in the video around a maze which could connotate what their relationship used to be like, did he never know which way to turn or there was never a clear path for their future together? It could also be saying of how he is lossed in love with this girl.

The second verses lyrics are "So much life in the city, you won't believe, Been awake for some days now, no time to sleep, If your heart is a pillow, this love's the bed, Tell me what is the music, inside my head". The first line is talking about how busy it is in cities, this could mean that when he spends time in the city that he has no time for sleep as it is so busy and therefore he has no time to sleep and spend time with his heart. This could also be the reason for a link with the visuals as he is in a desert in the video which is a lonely place to be so he likes it there as he is able to be with his thoughts and think about whatever he wishes. 

The last verse which is a bridge says that he doesn't want to fall asleep unless he is falling for her, this could mean that the only time he wants to be asleep and dreaming is when he can think and dream about her. The visuals at this point is a car chase and Chris Brown is chasing her through the desert, this is telling us about that he used to have to chase her and he is still chasing her. As the song is coming to an end he crashes through a 'road closed' sign which is telling him that the road to this particular love is closed and there is no chasing he can do that will bring her back to him.

Individual Music Advert

Individual Digipak

Group Magazine

Jack's advert

Jacks magazine article consists of vibrant colours which compliment the background style- jack has used a star like background which could conform to our star image of which we are trying to portray. The typography "Teach Me How To Shuffle By MadMikes" is written in a fuchsia pink which again, compliments the background however if i were to critique the typography I would suggest a different font to make it more prominent on the page. He has included an image of the album cover in the advert which is a good advertisement for the group as it shows their audience what it looks like so they know what they need to be up to date with the group. I would criticise that as the background is the same colour as the album cover that it is hard to differentiate between where the album cover is and where the background is. If I had to recommend a way to combat this, I would say that Jack should have put a glow around the outside of the cover to make it stand out form the background. At the bottom of the advert Jack has placed a picture of each of the members of the group, this helps the audience see more of the artist as they are becoming more familiar with them.

Charleigh's advert

The contrast of black and white colours that has been used in the background represents both artists personalities, perhaps Charleigh decided to portray us as fun yet serious (which is something we wish to portray). As one of the artist is upside down (against different coloured backgrounds) it shows the two different personas of the artist.

The first thing that jumps out at the audience is the title of the artist "MAD MIKE" as the name has been written in the contrasting colour to the background it makes it stand out a lot and therefore will attract the most attention. The typography of Mad mike is creative and innovative and very different to the other fonts she used. Directly above this is a sylish, chic and relevant font which is distinctive against the title promoting the debut album. When critiquing this piece, I would suggest that Charleigh changes the typography of the font above "And other tracks such as". Thus, creating a perfect magazine article.

Digipak Analysis

A digipak is the cover for a CD case that will fold out into three or six pages and display images and information about the artist and the songs that are featured in the album. on the front cover of the digipak there is generally a picture of the artist and the title of the album.

We were not able to find any digipaks for LMFAO so we have chosen to analyse a digipak from the artist David Guetta, he is also from the dance genre so although they are not the same artist they will have the same connotations. The digipak is covered in various bright colours which shows the excitement in his music as it is in the dance genre so this will appeal to his target audience.

Analysis of Magazine Advert 2

For this task I will be analysising the advert showing the artist 'Swedish House Mafia'. The advert shows them in a very positive light as they look almost god like with the lights behind making them appear holy and the audience being in aura of them. This artist is very successful and therefore has a large amount of fans and the advert is stating they have 'One Last Tour' so they are likely to be able to sell all the tickets for the convert very quickly and increase their audience scope. The picture of the artist faces shows them to be very calm and cool, this could mean that they are not nervous about this being their last tour or it could perhaps connote that they may be aspiring to collaborate back together in the future so it is giving hope to their fans.

Risk Assessment

It is important to consider risks before filming in order to make sure that your crew and team and other people that you are working with will stay safe when working on my groups music video. The risk assessment will assist in the making of the film as me and my group will be able to refer to it when we need to make sure people are safe and will not hurt themselves.  

Photoshoot

It is essential to carry out a photo shoot because as it will provide groups with crucial images to include in designs and products that have to be created as part of the project. It gives groups a chance to experiment with different ideas and see what will look good for them. The photo shoot will include several images of the people in the video, the props that will be used and the location(s) of the video.

We used a picture of the two main performers in order to create the album cover. The heads of the people were cut out from the original pictures in order to make the cover.

My group took these 4 pictures above as an example of what we could use in the album or digipak, they will give us a chance to experiment with different locations and poses that could possibly be used in the video.

This is the advert that I created for the use of the group and includes two pictures of the main artists which were cut of pictures so they do not contain the background and also a picture of the album cover in order to show the audience what the album looks like.

Magazine Reflection

Planning the Cinematography

In my groups video we plan to use a wide variety of different shots to keep our audience entertained during the video. We will have to try not to repeat to any shots in order not to be repetitive and not to lose our audience. From the list below I will discuss a few of the shots to give an example.

• Close up
• Extreme close up
• Pan 
• Low angle
• High angle
• Long shot
• Establishing shot
• Zoom
• Tilt
• Overhead shot
• Free hand

A convention of all music videos is and establishing shot at the start of the video, so we will also do this  to keep up with the conventions. The demographic will be able to follow the video as they will know where it is and set the scene. We will also be using pan shots as it is a quick way to show many things in quick succession that is happening at the same time, this is very likely to happen as our video is in a party scene. We will also have to use an overhead shot in order to show the entirety of the party which will put things into perspective for the audience. The mise en scene will also be more apparent here as the audience will be able to see more on the screen. Close-ups will be used throughout the video as it will bring attention to people facial expressions and it is important for our audience to follow the narrative. 

Planning of Iconography

 The props me and my group need to obtain for the making of our video are;

- Gold glitter
- Champagne bottles
- Champagne sparklers

The glitter will be used in a variety of close up and mid shots, one of the members of my group will be blowing the glitter out of her hand like in the picture on the left. The gold colour of the glitter connotes luxury life style. We will buy this glitter from and art shop and will cost roughly £1.

These are champagne sparklers and can be bought from (www.clubcandles.co.uk) in packs of 4 for £2.50. We will attach them to the champagne bottles. The sparklers are very exciting and are regularly used and bought by customers in night clubs. So to add to the verisimilitude we will use them in our video.

We will also need a number of champagne showers to pop open and spray over the people that will feature in the video. This is the most important piece of iconography because the song title is performing this action with the champagne. As we do not have a big budget we will have to go to the supermarket to purchase the champagne and will most probably be a budget/cheap champagne.

Subculture Theory

Vox Pops

To add to the questionnaires my group and I gave out to members of the public we also interviewed some of them on camera. We aimed to talk to a range of different ages and by chance they had similar choices in their favoured artists and genres so our feedback from the interviews does not show a large range of people. The people interviewed were typical examples of our target demographic: young, house/dance fans. Using interviews as a source of research was very different as it gave the people being interviewed a chance to go into more depth about the questions rather than the answers on the questionnaires, this gave us more information and feedback to work from. One of our interviewees went into great detail when asked about if they were a fan of LMFAO, this was helpful as he specified that he "Wished he could dance like that". This will help us make our recreation as we will have to pay particular attention to how good the dancing in the video as it is the priority of our target demographic. All four people in my group had to take in turns to film someone during the interviews and read the questionnaires to them. After we had gathered all the interviews one of my group members edited the videos into a short film about what we found out.

Research into Chosen Artist

My chosen artist is LMFAO and my interests within this artist is their style of dance and 'party atmosphere' they portray in their very successful music videos. Their dance style is very similar to what young people do today, this helps their audience to connect with them as they see them in something they find fun and will want to go out and do. When I was watching their music videos I knew that this would be all the inspiration for wanting to recreate it. I think that making the video would be very fun and enjoyable as I like the dance in the video and as I am in a group of peers that I like and enjoy spending time with, I believe we will have lots of fun making the video. 

LMFAO are an American duo originally from Los Angeles, California. Redoo (Stefan Kendal Gordy, left) is Skyblu's (Skyler Austen Gordy, right) uncle and they formed the group in 2006 and declared that they are on hiatus. They began their career in 2007 as part of the electro club scene and started to create a local buzz. They were then signed to Interscope/will.i.am Music, the manager Neil Jacobson said their demo records sounded like finished records so little artist development was needed. They the later released their first track, "I'm In Miami Bitch" and then their first album, "Party Rock" in 2009.

I found this information on Wikipedia and the table shows the sales and chart peaks of their albums.

I found this information from Wikipedia and the table shows the sales and chart peaks of their singles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA8rcLvS1BY

Research Into Chosen Music Genre

Research Into Chosen Music Genre

The song we have chosen recreate is from the Dance genre, LMFAO's 'Champagne Showers' follows the conventions of the genre in all their music videos and so we will have to do the same when we recreate it. We have to do this so our audience will acknowledge our music video as being a dance video.



I personally wanted to recreated a song from the dance genre as I am really into the genre and also into the house genre which is very similar to dance but the videos are often a lot better for the dance genre so my group and I decided on that.

My group did some primary research and found the following conventions of the genre:

• The scenes predominately take place in a club or party setting
• The female back up dancers wear high heels, short skirts etc.
• Artificial lighting is used to enhance the artist's attractiveness
• The pace of the editing is in synch with the track's beat
• Iconography usually includes lots of alcohol, a pool, UV paint
• Close up shots are commonly used on the artist for promotional reasons
• The atmosphere is fun and carefree
• There is lots of variation in camera shots
• Credits are used to introduce the song title and artist
• Participants in the music videos are all usually young adults aged 18-25

Before me and my group started to plan we needed to research into other music videos for ideas and inspiration we will need. One of the videos I watched was Swedish House Mafia's, Don't You Worry Child as it is a very popular dance song and is one of my favorites. The song is based on the bands last ever show in England and you can see the happiness and excitement, naturally created by the audience and band. 

A panning shot of the front row of the audience in slow motion shows the audience singing along to the lyrics. This shows the audience what it was like to be at the concert as you see all the positive body language and everyone waving at the camera. This is a very useful shot as it shows what their real life audience is like rather than the actors that are featured in usual music videos. From this I can see their typical target audience are people aged 16 - 25 who love to party and dedicated to their music. This is a similar audience that me and my group wish to target. The difference between the two films will be that Swedish House Mafia's is a real scene and in mine they will be people acting as part of a party scene. 

This is an extreme long shot used half way through the video, it shows how popular the band is. Richard Dyer's theory applies here as the band seems extraordinary due to the size of its fan base.  The crowd are dancing around with their hands in the air having a good time which is entertaining for the audience. 

Copyright

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Generally it is "the right to copy", but also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work. 

My group had to email artists that we wished to use their song in order to comply with the regulations of copyright law. We tried to contact LMFAO as our choice of artist so we had to email their record label. We had to gain permission fro this via the email so they can be sure that no-one is going to make money from their video.  The email we sent is listed below, we sent this letter to the record label four times (once from every member of the group and have not yet received a reply from them.