Thought Bubble

At work today I was thinking about the issue raised in the discussion with the focus group and how they weren't keen on the idea of having a toy shop as a setting, so an idea came to me about having a studio setting like our original idea and have broken, half and full body mannequins, to play with the idea of  lost identity (as they don't have faces) and further the ideas o

f the modern world...

Focus group results

Thought Bubble...

I've gathered everything ready for the pitch that is taking place at my house I've invited about ten people round mixture of males and females, majority of them between the ages of 16-18.  The meeting will be later today at round two-ish. I'll show them my blog and discuss ideas with them hoping in return with some critical feedback to help us improve! (:

Costumes Ideas

 Girls- 
Outfit one: Three colored skater dressesOutfit two:  Black tights,shirt shorts/skirt dickie bow





Boy-Outfit: Causal everyday suit.

Questionnaire Results

 

 

 

 

I'm Aware that Questionnaire's aren't the only way to gather information and feedback but I wanted to start with this way of collecting data so then I can present it when I carry out the focus group.. Results:

 

•  I asked both males and females, and with the age, the majority of people in the range of what I thought the target audience should be.
• most of the teens tended to like the  indie music but the younger fourteen year olds and the older  twenty plus  liked the pop music.
• There was a mixture of what they like to appear in a music video a lot of them liked the idea of a storyline an studio setting  they weren't as keen on a dance setting.
• Very few were keen on the idea of having special effects in the video.
• Many of them disagreed with the idea that a music video had an influence on them.



 

Consent to use the song

Tommy Sparks isn't a current artist and I was looking for his official website to contact him or his agent to receive consent to use the song  'She's got me Dancing' However his website doesn't exist anymore as he joined a band not long after his solo career. Unfortunately i cannot find a website for this band and the only thing i could find was an official Facebook page for Tommy Sparks which i have emailed seeking consent. 

Pre Production Experiment

Audience questionnaire

Breakdown of Tasks

Greg                                                                       Zahra (Me)



Time management                                                  Time management
Audience: Facebook Chat                                      Audience- Questionnaire
Audience: Video Conversations                            Audience- Profile
Performers and Casting                                         Audience- Focus Group
Health & safety                                                     Print Production- Layouts
Choreography                                                       Choreography
                                                                              Story Boarding
                                                                              Costumes and Props

Time Management For Research and planning

Response to Feedback

'Where will you get a Toy Shop?'
-We are planning to use the studio and have the props indicate where the location is. We're not going to video in a Toy Shop we are dressing up a scene of an inspired toyshop through the use of props

'Maybe 22 is to old?'
- Rethinking the age of the target audience I agree with the feedback and I think maybe twenty would be a better suited age.

'It's not that original'
- Some people questioned the originality, however some thought it was 'quite original, but generic in a good way'. I tried to express originality through the little introduction at the start of the music video and this idea of playing the old black and white to the modern with the bold colours. We also have to take into consideration that a lot of pop music is classed as mainstream so we have to produce something that the Marjory of people would like as it's the target audience.

Feedback and comments from the pitch

Here are some of the comments we received from Pitch...

Positives 

• That it sounds achievable 
• the use of two shots in one
• Like the use of using colour as an identity
•  the idea of the small introduction before starting the video.

Negatives

• Questioned the originality
• Weren't sure on the locations
• They thought 22 might me too old maybe 20 is better suited.

The Pitch material

She’s got me dancing from zahraaliyah64

Music Anaylsis

Music Video Analysis and Comparison.

     The music video Taylor Swift I knew you were trouble opens with  a two minute narrative which briefly indicates what the song is going to be about; a heart break, so it’s following the a main convention of pop music. It begins with an opening shot of the artist lay on the dusty floor in the middle of nowhere, alone where she tells a story accompanied by many shots edited together which move at a where she is perceived to be isolated and lonely. The artist has a voice over quick pace almost like a montage of memories or flashbacks.  These shots reappear later in the video where they are explained and expressed in more detail.

        Comparing this to the opening scenes of Katy Perry’s ‘Hot N Cold’ it also follows the idea of a pre music introduction; long, high angle crane shot of a wedding ceremony, however it’s much shorter and differs from the monologue style in Taylor swift music video where her aim is to produce something that is personal and realistic, and Katy Perry’s tend s to be more of a façade type of performance where she creates something that is very much of fantasy story. Taylor wants you the audience to sympathise and understand her story, as Katy wants you to enjoy it, have fun with it but also relate to it because again the song is about relationships and love.

 

        Applying Andrew Goodwin’s theory to the pre introduction which features in both music video would be categorised both Amplifying and disjunctive. Katy Perry’s Hot N Cold would be stronger disjunctive video compared to Taylors as she sings about love and the lyrics match with some of the visuals.

Katy Perry’s video the camera shots seem to be motivated by the moment and dancing which is in sync with the song beat and tempo and this links with the idea about sound and visuals matching.  Taylor Swift’s music video also follows the idea of the movement of the camera in sync with the tempo, however it’s motivated by song and the fast change of shots. In both of the video the music and visuals don’t tend to be a match when it comes to viewing instruments in the video, however both videos include a match of music beats and pace matching the visual as both contain parts where the cuts of shot are in sync with the music. They contains a mixture of editing shot with the music pace and ignoring this idea of a match.

 

      In Taylor Swift video  a close up  reveals the male causes trouble by knocking a snooker ball in result of masculine men approaching him and  violent acts taking place, which links  to back to the song lyrics ‘ I knew you were trouble’. The role that the male plays here we could say is dominate ideology the fact that they are manly, leader and an active role, whereas in Perry’s video her role is a lot more it active and it would be more emergent ideology because we see her interrogating the male

  

Taylors video features  three shots of the artist performing the buildup to the climax of the song, which is a various mixture of a long shot, a medium shot and a close up shot of the artist singing, which reveals to the audience that she is unhappy and miserable.  We then go on to find out that Taylor begins to realise that her partner doesn’t feel the same way for her as she does for him which is also suggested through her performance and lyrics.  This is a conventional narrative in a pop video, as in normally features  a relationship that are facing problems, and the female is singing about her feelings and emotions in result of this.    

       In Katy Perry’s Hot N Cold the broken hearted brides are seen through close ups and longs shots where we see synchronised dancing which is very conventional in pop music videos. The baseball bats the brides are holding are emphasised through close ups and extreme close ups which express heart break and anger towards the guy. The groom is then viewed through high angle to indicate his loss of power and weakness against the other brides have united. The scene changes again, however the shots remain the same and we return choreographed dancing.

 

         Andrew Goodwin says that we create our own personal interpretation of the ‘story’ of the song which is strongly supported in both theses video. Both videos suffer emotional and heartbreak which they communicate with the audience in hope they take the basic message and relate to it personally. Each video follows Goodwin’s belief of the narrative and performance holding the audience interest Andrew explains that miming is a popular element and that the artist appearing as a singer and an actor used to be quiet original however in previous years however it’s more current and now a trend which we can see is used in both these music videos.

         Andrew Goodwin talks about Star image and it’s very important to both artist as it’s how the audience perceive them. In Taylor swift’s video we see a changed her image from the usual innocent country girl to a heart broken rebel chick. She reveals this through her clothing new haircut and video visuals. With this video we see a change Taylor’s star image and persona. However Katy’s video has expanded on her star image compared to her first video ‘I kissed a girl’ where she came across as the normal pop star. With this video she has created her own fantasy world and enhancing her star image as someone who is almost lost in a fairy-tale which is shown to the audience in her later videos. Hot N Cold was just the beginning of what was to come for Katy’s star image.

 

         In the two music videos we don’t tend to see the females through a male gaze, it contains shot reverse shots and we see the cameras gaze however the females aren’t really portrayed as sexual objects or in provocative way, so it wouldn’t really support Mulvey theory.

        Looking at the closing scene both video end with a short narrative after the song has ended. However they tells different stories Katy gets her man and Taylor is still dwelling on her heartbreak. Looking at Taylor other videos such as ‘You belong with me’ or ‘22’this one is very different as it tends to be more personal and intense rather than upbeat and fun.

  

        Both songs are redundant and follow the typical generic material for a pop video as they include dancing, relationships and love and upbeat and normally content with life, however you could say that Taylor Swift ‘I knew you were trouble’ challenges the idea slightly as she doesn’t end up with her happy ending and the idea of flashbacks and troubled love life leaving her depressed could fall into the typical indie conventions, Or maybe slightly entropic especially referring to the montage and narrative at the start. However they both contain conventions of pop but Katy Perry tends to stick within the pop genre compared to Taylor.

      In conclusion the music videos follow a lot of Andrew Goodwin’s theory. We can see that it’s the backbone of all music videos and they tend to follow Goodwin’s conventions of a music video, However they challenge parts of the theory. On the other hand looking at Mulvey’s theory, we see the male gaze doesn’t appear in either of the videos and we most definitely are not transforming ourselves into the mind-set of a male, it’s much rather the opposite as I would say that both videos are aimed for the female audience and their experiences with heart break and love.

Locations

When shooting the music video we have decided on a few places we are using our media class room and dressing it in sheets and using the backdrops provided. we will purchase any extra backdrops ourselves. We have also asked to use the photography studio which has been arranged and accepted and we will use this for close up shots as it's full equip with great lighting and backdrops etc. We will only use these two locations and the scene will be dressed by the use of lighting and props.
 

Idea Number Two....

After taking in consideration our past ideas I feel that  nothing really exciting going on and its a bit plain so we changed the following elements:

•  only feature one main guy so the focus is on him
• have two scenes so then it gives more variety of shots one being Halloween inspired, the a Toy shop
• robotic dancing, as well as normal dancing
• sliding takes across the screen and fast moving takes.
• 'Once upon a time animation' at the start.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Audience profile

The type of person who would the magazine would listen to ‘She’s got me dancing’ would be Hedonists so would follow the motto 'to play, or enjoy life now'. On the Jincars scale they would fall into the category of the C’s. This song would appeal to both males and females aged between 16-20.     

The person would be pretty laid back, up for a laugh and easy going  so may come across as 'following the crowd'. However quietly  they would be very confident, strong minded. They tend to just go with the flow and nothing is certain with them The person would enjoy a mixture of  socialising, shopping, gaming, beauty, parties and new experiences, dependent on their gender. Their family and friends means a lot to them but wouldn’t be very affectionate. They o like there own space. If they can be bothered they would do anything for their friends even if it was getting in the way of their own personal needs.


They would listen to a mixture of  indie and pop music such as the 1975, The Killers , Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars,  Paramore, The wombats and Capital cities. They typically enjoy 'Feel good music' but also have the odd song which they here and love, such as Counting Stars, Save a life, Oh Hey, Mr Bright side, Little Lion man and Brick by boring brick.

 If they are a female adore make-up and beauty and have a strong 'passion for fashion' with a indie/gothic twist. You would find them in shops such as H&M, Primark, New look and  if in a lazy mood they tend to do online shopping on sites like such as Missguided.co.uk or Boohoo.com because it’s easier.  They  do enjoy slouching around in a big jumper/ Boyfriend Shirt with jeans or leggings. However when going out, accessories  and shoes are a must. Perfect skin and eyeliner is the focus of their makeup.



If they are male, they do take care in their appearance when going out  and  are a big fan of partying and night life. Although social life is  important to them gaming and lads night in is too! They would drink a mixture of beers and ciders  but  do like their spirits too .  They would be the typical lad into girls and sex, but not the player type.  

  They  don’t tend follow many programmes but would now and then qwould watch tthe typical mainstream ones like ‘ Family Guy’,  'X Factor', 'I'm a Celebrity', Take me out  and 'Celebrity Juice'. But many of the teenage dramas that they follow are online such as 'The Vampire Diaries', ‘Walking dead, ‘Revenge’, ‘Dexter’  and 'Pretty Little Liars'

They are very artistic and creative enjoying arty and media base things. They like being around friends and family and love the Christmas and holiday atmosphere but also the spookiness of Halloween.  Parties and a night in with friends is the best for them ; eating  junk food, gaming, alcohol  and watching films such as  ' Friends with Benefits' ,  ‘American Pie’ ‘ Super bad, ‘The Heat’ ,  'The ugly truth' and ‘Grownups’ . But they also like the  childhood classics like Shrek, ‘Harry potter’, 'Toy Story' and  Horrors like 'Dead silence', ‘Scream’ 'Insidious',

Relationships, romance, partying, gaming and friends are very important to you.  They do care about their appearance but indulge in the one off Mc Donald's or takeaway. They love the festival atmosphere and attend the 'V' and 'Glastonbury' festivals. They always are  seeing their favorite music artists in concert and have most of their storage on the laptop taken up by music downloads, games and films.