CR- Digipak Research

Genre

Taio Cruz's genre includes that of dance-pop, electro pop, R&B. With respects to other artists of these genre the album cover is highly conventional, this is a close up of the artists face, this is evident in this album cover and Jason De Rulo's, thus enforcing the audiences perception of Taio's contribution to the music industry. Also associated with this genre is gold and 'bling' this is presented with the use of gold coloured font/text background. The genre of music of which Taio Cruz is associated with is often seen as   no nonsense an attitude that is portrayed by the back cover with the use of white text on a black background. 

Media Language

The use of titles conforms in with the rule of thirds, with the artists name in the top third, and the name of the album in the bottom third; this is also the order in which people normally read, with the artists name being the more important. The artist's face is slightly obscured by shadow from both the right and the left leaving his facial features in the centre of the cover, this challenges the rule of thirds as it shows the artist as a lone figure, connoting that he is a solo artist as he writes and produces his own songs. There is also very little colour, which makes the titles even more appealing against the very dark tone created by the little contrast between the artists face/clothes and the background. The artist’s use of shades is typical of artists of this genre; it also takes away the possibility of the colour of his eyes, affecting the overall tone of the cover, thus interfering with the contrast of the titles and the background. The artists choice of costume including a leather jacket and a pair of sunglasses are both dark, and on a black background makes the artist quite indistinguishable, this can be referring to the artists career as a song writer to many successful artists without any recognition, as though he was hidden from mainstream media.

The title of the album “The Rokstarr Collection” with the mis-spelt use of Rock Star shows the tribute to traditional forms of music however it shows that the artist has stepped away from conventions with the use of this spelling mistake. The title of the album also suggests that the album is a compilation of the artist’s previous more successful tracks. 

Representation

The artist is represented in a way that is familiar to the way the artist is represented in his music videos, thus creating a star image that has been developed from his first hit. The album cover shows an image of the artist, this image is dismembered by the shadow and the dark background, conforming to Dyer’s theory of a star image. Whilst the artist is hidden behind shadow he is absent, but being the only image on the cover he is evidently present conforming to Dyer’s first paradox. With the use of gold titles around the artists image with the colour being associated with wealth and extra-ordinary circumstances. Whereas the mis-spelling of Rock Star enables the audience to feel relatable to Taio Cruz making him more ordinary, thus fulfilling Dyer’s second paradox where an artist has to be ordinary yet extra-ordinary. The fact that the artist is rarely depicted without his sunglasses creates a myth surrounding the artist. is conventional of artists belonging to the rap and R&B artists.

Institution & Audience

The album cover is designed to stand out from brighter album covers of artist's of the similar genre, and those audiences already familiar with Taio Cruz. This abnormality in album cover designs allows the artist to portray his individuality to other artists making him more ideal for new listeners. The close up of the singers face addresses the female audience where the leather jacket and shades dismember the artist's face addressing the male audience.

Filming

24th October 2011


Today I did a shoot in my villa, the shoots were mainly panning and establishing shots.
Main ideas i had story boarder were long distance, I also filmed a sunset and some fun shots in the pool.


Hopefully the shots will look alright and we can use them.


I am planning to do several more shoots, one of which will be some shots of the wedding.

CR- Digipak research

                                                                                
The Digi-pak is from the artist’s album ‘Hybrid Theory’ for their artwork they used a very iconic image of a spray painted image of a soldier on what looks like military equipment, this helps draw the attention to the album. On the back page there is a group image complying with Dyer’s paradox theory with the artist being absent on the front page yet present on the back, next to the track list. Whereas the poster is advertising the later album ‘A Thousand Suns’ yet again the band are present in the image however their faces are distorted also complying with Dyer’s paradox, the poster uses a white font on a black background two highly contrasting colours resulting in a very clear advertisement, there is also a picture of the album cover making it clear to the reader what they are looking for.

ZS Project Update

When listening over our track as a group we agreed that it was too long (3:50) and that we would not be able to get footage for that amount of time and allow enough time to edit without the music video looking repetitve. We have now cut our track down to 3 minutes, 15 seconds. We did this by speeding up the track by five percent, cutting out some of the bells at the beginning of the track and fading in and fading out the intro and outro. Our track is now of a suitable length and much more manageable given our deadlines for the project. We also started filming the anamatic and put it into premier with our track to see which shots suit which part of the track. We have done more research today on interesting shot ideas from other artists such as Example and Justin Beiber. We researched these and now have a good idea of some A grade shots to include in our video such as a 360 panning shot using a green screen and a roll into a shot which we will post a link to on our next update.

Storyboarding

What is the purpose of storyboarding?


Storyboarding allows us to determine what sort of shots will be used in our video. It also allows us to ellaborate on what sort of camera movement we can feature in each shot. It also allows us to organise our shots around our track, and features greatly in our film planning.




What can we learn from making an animatic?


While using an animatic it is possible to learn how many shots are needed for a certain amount of track, and how long each shot takes without becoming boring. It also allows us to organise our shots more effectively than storyboards as it allows us to put shots in order and find shots to fill or extend the amount of footage due to the amount of shots traditionally used in music videos.




Our storyboards show the action within the shots with a general handi-cam movement in each one, we have not yet decided the length of each shot and are more so relying on the animatic to determine the duration of each shot.

Storyboard Post

 Here are just some of the examples of shots we are going to use shown in some storyboards.

ZS split screen trial

This was our first trial at using split screen, although the two screens are walking at different speeds the effect is still effective and can be used in our music video. We also need to make sure that our split screen shots are of the same distance shot, in this example the girls feet are much more zoomed in than the boys feet so looks a bit uneven.

Example - Kickstart

I watched this today, I think for the 'lovey dovey' shots we can gain great ideas from this. Have a watch tell me what you think. Also it has split screens which work so effectively.

Pitch feedback

On 10/10/11 we presented our pitch in front of our peers, broadcasting our general ideas of how we are going to film the music video for our chosen track. Overall feedback was positive resulting in our idea getting green lighted however some very important issues were raised by the audience.
These include:-

1. A location reccie at each of our chosen locations.
2. There were some concerns about how we are going to link our locations together within the narrative.
3. There were some questions over the style of church we would use for example the audience thought a more traditional church would be better suited.
4. Concerns over what camera shots to use to make our video interesting whilst keeping in terms with our split-screen idea.
5. With our split-screen idea there were concerns over the amount of shots we would need.
6. Concerns over weather were also expressed. 

Some skills we had to use in our pitch included:-

• IT skills for the use of Prezi and our Youtube video embedded in our presentation.
• We had to converse our ideas with clarity and enthusiasm in order for our concept to be 'Green Lighted'
• We also had to use a lot of terminology in order to successfully transverse our ideas.

At AS we had difficulty explaining our ideas towards the target audience and as a consequence we had to re organise our pitch so that our ideas were clear, before we could continue with our production. At A2 we were able to include shot samples that we are planning to shoot in our video to give extra clarity to our idea that we were able to broadcast successfully, thus we were 'Green Lighted' and now we are focussing on the production of our video.

Pitch For Chosen Track

pitch on Prezi

Audience Research Results

Would you normally listen to this genre of music?


The majority of people who answered our questionnaire would normally listen to this genre of music so their opinions and ideas are valid and important when considering audience expectations.

Where would you expect a music video to this track to be set?


The majority of the responses show that a park is the most popular setting closely followed by the seaside and inside a house. This is important when thinking about our narrative and where we will make the characters go during the narrative. We have altered our narrative but we will still set the beginning in the bedroom/bathroom of each of the characters.

What characters would you expect to feature in this music video?


This information is vital when casting as we are obviously not able to use the real Bruno Mars for his perfomance pieces so we will feature an eighteen year old male as Bruno Mars and a similar aged couple for the two lead characters in the narrative.

Young boy - 0

Young girl - 0

Boy in late teens/early twenties - 10

Girl in late teens/early twenties - 9

On a scale of one to ten how good is our narrative?

We have altered our narrative since this questionnaire was created, however these results are still useful as we are still keeping the original idea of having a couple that get together and go on a day trip with eachother. The general idea for our narrative scored highly so we know that this is somehting that audience members would expect and want to watch.

6/10 - 1 person

7/10 -  4 people

8/10 - 3 people

9/10 - 2 people

Average rating of 7.6/10 for our concept idea

 Which of the following costumes are most suitable for our lead character?


This question is no longer relevant as we are not having the narrative start in the morning, so pijamas would not be suitable. Instead we are having the two lead characters in normal everyday modern clothes such as jeans and a t-shirt to make them identify with the audience who will probably own similar clothes.

Would you expect this music video to be mainly performance, narrative or concept based?


Most people who filled out this questionnaire expect this track to have a narrative music video which is fitting to our idea. They also expect it to have elements of performance so we will have filler shots of our actor performing as Bruno Mars.

Do you think it is important to see the artist performing in a music video?


This question got equal responses for yes and no so we can choose which we think as the production team is most suitable. We are going with a compromise and having a performer, but an imitation, not the real Bruno Mars.


50% = YES
50% = NO


What colours and lighting do you think would be suitable for this track?


There is a mixture of qualatitive responses here but we picked up on the bright colours at the beginning of the msuic video to show the fun and liveliness of it and as the music slows use more dim, romantic lighting to show the development of the narrative throughout the music video.


- Bright colours and lighting etc
- Fresh white, every day look, dim romantic lighting (variety according to the clip/situation)
- Bright, vivid colours for the dream sequences. Black & white for the 'real life' parts
- Soft colours
- Warm colours and bright lighting at beginning then darker lighting at the end
- Cheerful Colours


Do you think our narrative is too confusing?


Everyone who filled out our questionnaire thought that our narrative was simple enough to understand, although we have altered our idea it is no more complicated than last time, in fact it would only be simpler because we are no longer using the time switch, it will all be set in modern day.


100% - NO

Pitch

What needs to be done.


This is the list of what needs to be done for the prezi, I present we each chose a few, put them on the prezi and I will draw it all together and make it into the final pitch.

1. Moodboard - Jodie
2. Treatment - Jodie
3. Some music video we have looked at - Zoe
4. Audience research - the methodology -sample -Our findings - Zoe
5. Images - Locations, Costume, Props and Lighting - Chris
6. Technical - Storyboard, shots and transitions - Chris
7. Casting - Who else, roles - Jodie
8. Our own roles in the Project - Chris
9. Clips - Training we have already undergone ie Brighton - Chris
10. How to organise our time - filming, production plan - Zoe

Deadline for Finish is December

Things to take note upon - key words

• Branded
• Pictures
• Album
• Same Genre
• Research - Tech, Production, Audience
• Concept Idea

Difficulties

1. Weather
2. Transport - Equipment and Cast
3. Batteries
4. Cast
5. Band Promotion 

We really need to have it all done but the latest Sunday Night so then Monday we can rehearse

ZS Audience Responce

Who were your sample audience and how many?

Our sample audience were ten students in their late teens who are interested in the music and music videos. Some of the sample audience were also media studies students so have some knowledge of audience expectations and media terminology. They were a mixture of male and female participants.

What method did you use?  Evaluate. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this method?

We used an online survey on a website called surveymonkey which we were able to distribute for friends to fill out via facebook. This method has definite advantages over handing out questionnaires because we were able to gather results and analyse and compare them much more quickly. A disadvantage is that you are not there to help them with the questionnaire if they find any of the questions ambiguous, however this just meant we had to take a little longer to make sure all of our questions were appropriate and easy to understand even to those without a prior knowledge to any media terminology.

What type of questions did you submit? (quantitative, qualitative, semantic differential).  How many?

In this questionnaire we submitted 10 questions which required both written, numerical rating and option box responses. We used a range of questions so that we could get both quantative and qualative responses. Quantitative responses are useful as they are easy to contrast and compare in graphs and charts. Qualitative responses mean that we can read the thoughts and opinions of our audience and this will give us a better understanding of their own individual ideas.

How effective were the responses?

All of our ten responses were valid and have been very useful to compare how each audience member has answered. It is also very useful as our first question asked them their age and gender so this way we can compare answers from male audience members to those of females. They were very effective because we now have a range of different types of answers to a variety of questions which relate to all aspects of our media production.

How are you going to refine your practice with the A2 brief ?

Group Post- Music Video concepts

Marry You concept on Prezi

JR - Another Split Screen Idea

While drawing up the storyboard was looking around for some new shot ideas came across this Video, Really like the Split screens in this video with performance and narrative. I've added a few into our storyboard.

ZS Techincal Analysis Review

Bruno Mars Ft. B.o.b - Nothin' on you

My first techincal analysis was the music video for Nothin' on you by Bruno Mars. I chose this particular video to analyse because it is by the same artist as our potential track and it has a fun feel to it, using some interesting techniques which we may be able to emulate. Thsi is why it is important to find out how a piece like this is structured and put together, which is what the techincal analysis allows us to do.

I analysed from 20 seconds into the video, up to 1:32, giving me over a minute of shots to analyse. The main difference when analysing a film opening in AS and a music video in A2 is the vast amount of shots needed to cover a minute in a music video. Film openings are more about suspence so tend to use longer shots such as panning shots whereas music videos are constantly chopping and changing to keep the viewers captivated with new images, interesting angles and bright colours. Within the time i analysed there were 27 shots. The majority of these shots were medium close ups which allows the star performer to feature and sing at the camera, breaking the fourth wall.

Nearly all of the shots in the music video were performance shots, however the performance and narrative were interlinked which allowed the shots to focus on the performer lip syncing but also telling a story about all of these different girls in the background simultaneously.

When thinking about music videos it is important to consider Richard Dyer's theory of Star Image and the two paradoxes they show. The first paradox is the star being both present and absent at the same time. This is shown in this music video as there are two artists and in a lot of the shots there is only one of the artists presnt, whilst the other is absent. The second paradox is the star being both ordinary and extraordinary. The music video is set mainly in a street, which shows that they are ordinary and simply walking down a normal street. However each of the characters look like they have been cut out of a magazine making them look unusual and thus extraordinary. They are also seen as extraordinary as both of the performers are able to attract attention from all the surrounding women who pass by.

Bruno Mars - Grenade

My second technical analysis was again by Bruno Mars, but this time starring on his own. For this music video i analysed from the very beginning of the track up until 1:30, giving me a minute and a half worth of shots to analyse. The cutting rate in this video was very fast, there were 47 shots, averaging out at a shot just under every two seconds.

Again most of the video was perforamce shots but the narrative was incorporated. The majority of the shots are close ups of Bruno Mars performing. The music video is set in what looks like his bedroom, moves into him dragging a piano through a busy tunnel and out into a street with some yobs.

Another theory which is important to consider when analysing music video's in Goodwins 'Dancing in the distraction factory'. In this theory it states there are eleven criteria which most music videos fit. One of these is the notion of looking, which gives the audience another way to observe the star in the video. A lot of the time this is done through cameras, tv screen and mirrors. In this video there is an interesting close up where a car drives past Bruno in the tunnel. The close up is of the car's rear view mirror which we are able to see Bruno dragging the piano in. This is the notion of looking and is a great example of an intersting shot allowing us to view the artist in an alternative way.

ZS Audience Research - Questionnaire

Below is a link to a questionnaire i have created for the purpose of our audience research. The questionnaire was created on a website called SurveyMonkey and is being circulated over the social networking site Facebook. This means that the people that is will be sent to and carried out by will be mainly students in their late teens, which is also our target audience. Last year, in the AS course we handed out our questionnaires and watched people fill them out so we could take back the results straight away to analyse and compare. This year however we have done our survey online so that we can send it to more people and hopefully get a greater response. Using SurveyMonkey also means that we have all of our information in one place and can analyse it on the same site, saving valuable time.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?PREVIEW_MODE=DO_NOT_USE_THIS_LINK_FOR_COLLECTION&sm=KeIZomUuQdxstpfJ1hrlaJAFhfNHI7DI6vrNwwJO8K8%3d

Group Post- Class music video

As a class we have been working on a music video for Outkast's 'Hey Ya' this has provided us with some experience of working on a music video. For example it has given us an insight into how challenging lip syncing is and how many shots are actually required for a short period of music. Each group was assigned a verse and with this we were able to learn how difficult it was to piece together a music video. This also allowed us to experiment with different techniques in order to make the video look interesting. However unlike our preliminary task that we did last year, we have more experience how to use premiere and were able to develop on our techniques.

In this task we were also able to use a wider range of equiptment such as a Fish Eye Lense  which rounds the picture slightly and is used in a lot of modern pop music videos. We also used a green screen in the backgound of a lot of our shots. A green screen would allow us to change the backdrop or location and keep the performer in the shot. This is ideal for a low budget production because we will not have to travel to far away locations to get the ideal setting.