Video Ideas Lighting

The two screen print images were taken from Beyonce's video Halo. The use of the lighting in the video is similar to how our group plan to show parts of our video to show she is dreaming. The white bright lighting seems to be a good way of differentiate to the audience that some parts of the music video are not real, they are simply what the girl wants or is 'dreaming' about.

Furthermore, as you can see on the last image of a perfume advert that I saw in a magazine, and found on the internet, by using the high contrast lighting it also gives quite a romantic quality to the shots. This again will suit our music video as we are portraying a teenage couple in love.

Video Ideas 4

Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone Here is a link to Avril Lavinge's video some for the shots in this video reminded of how we want to show our couple and also of some of the types of close up shots that we wanted to use at the start of our video, when we have the seventeen quick shots.

By including these close up shots of the couple shows the audience that they couple is in love, also it could make the audience feel closer and more connected to the couple as you see how in love the couple appear.

Video Ideas 3

Taylor swift has just realised a new video called 'Mine' this video includes some elements that our group was already thinking to have in our own music video.

From 0.47 we see that the singer Taylor Swift then begins to imagine her life with this guy she has just met. The scenes on the beach and in the house showing the couple together are represented in the same way that we want to represent our couple. We want to show them very in love and connected together. On the right are some screen shots I have taken from the video.

Further more near the end of the video 3.40 we see that the video then returns to the cafe scene where they have just met each other and the lyrics say 'I can see it now' therefore this can be suggesting that all of what we have just sen of the couple has not actually happened yet but is what she had see or what she wants to happen. Again this is similar to our own ending of our video of when the girl/audience will realise that it was all a part of her imagination.

Video Ideas 2

Here is an image that I found on the search engine Google our group was discussing to include a shot similar to this in our video. Our group thought of the idea that we could have a shot of the couple taking a picture of themselves together but switch the focus of the camera from the couple to then focus on the camera screen and the picture they have just taken.

Also Michaela found the image on the right again on Google of these fingers that are in love. We thought that this could be a cute element that we could include in our music video. This type of shot with the fingers reminds me of the Kate Nash video - Foundations when she has objects moving away and together to represent her and her partners relationship.

We also could use these fingers to represent our own couple in love as we can have either the boy and girl drawing a character each on their own fingers or just have the girl draw both the boy and the girl characters on her fingers. If we used the idea of having the girl draw both characters on her own fingers we then came up with the idea that at the end of the video we can have an in focus shot of the fingers kissing each other, then in the background (out of focus) a real couple kissing. However, when the camera then comes into focus on the real couple we see that it is the boy shes in love with kissing another girl, which then makes her realise that she is only dreaming of what she wants to happen between them.

Artist Name Ideas

As I blogged before out group found it hard to all agree and come up with a name for our artist, However we did decided that we should create a stage name for our artist.

Here are some of the names that we are considering to use for our artist:

1) Ohlala - This name seems iconic and modern, when

researching Ohlala we found out that the phrase is used in perfume adverts such as Chanel and we was not sure if we would be allowed to use the name due to copyright reasons. We felt it would be more suitable for a band name so we did not pursue with this name.

2) Iris - We found this name using search engines such as names to

try and find a name that will be noticeable. When researching Iris we found out that it is a flower which conforms to the pop genre as feminine and girly. Although, this name is interesting it does not conform or challenge our age range in pop genre, we then decided not to continue with this name.

3) Pink Poison - We liked this name because half of name conform to the pop genre

'pop' and the other half challenges the pop genre artists and it seems 'rocky'. We thought this name was unique and intriguing because there are no artists called Pink Poison, however we later realised that a Cheerleading Squad is cal

led Pink Poison and we did not want our artist to be associated with them nd the name seems more suitable for a band.

4) Crystal Rocks - We finally settled on calling our artist Crystal Rocks

because it seems like a first name and surname which conforms to pop artists within our age for example, Miley Cyrus, this name could further our audience because of it's catchy name. The artist name could be spelt in two different ways such as Crystal Rocks or Crystal Rox which seems modern, however we have not decided on how we want to spell the name. When researching the name we found that out that a Christian group, a water bottle company, a high fashion organic clothing range and a T-shirt company are called Crystal Rock, so we will have to spell our name 'Rox' to make us stand out and not be associated with them. Although, there is a band called Crystal Castles they are in the electro genre. The name could be interpreted as crystallised rocks or the artist is innocent which contrasts to rock. The name conforms to the pop genre 'crystal' which is glamorous and expensive this makes the artist seem iconic and rock challenges the pop genre.

Video Ideas

In Rihanna's new video Only Girl (In The World) we have noticed that she has used some particular good editing techniques that we wanted to include in our video.

Our group had the idea that at the start of our video as their are seventeen beats before the lyrics begin, we would have seventeen quick shots of the couple in our video, showing them in love. We decided to only take shots of parts of their body for example, their hands holding together, their feet entangled together and shadows of the couple cuddling, therefore the audience can see that the could are in love through their body language. In Rihanna's video below at 2.49 until about 2.58 we see an example of quick shots following the beat of the music, which relates to the type of editing and shots we want to use in out music video. Also, after watching Rihanna's video I liked how even though there were quick shots flashing in time with the beat, I really liked how there is a moving shot in the background which keeps running. This gave me the idea that we could still include the seventeen shots but by about the tenth shot start having a moving shot or film of the girl in her bedroom as this is where we want the girl to be when she starts lip syncing the lyrics. Her therefore there wont be a jump from these quick shots straight into the actual moving film.



I think that by having these seventeen shots it really introduces to the audience the relationship between the couple and shows that they are in love. Also, it allows us to show a variety of different editing techniques.

Katy Perry on the Xfactor

On Saturday night Katy Perry performed her new single 'Firework' on the results night of the Xfactor. I really liked her performance and you can tell that she is actually singing live rather than miming her lyrics on stage. I also liked that she incorporate the theme of fireworks into her whole performance she included the fireworks displays on the stage behind her and also her costume that had a sparkly firework pattern on it.

Initial Band Brand Name Ideas

Our group has been finding it hard to create and think of our name for our artist. As Katy Perry is a solo artist we too need to create a solo artists name not a band name. Our group was been unable to agree so far wheter to have the artist with a normal name or give them a stage name. I believe that for the pop genre many artists have created stage names for themselves For example:
- Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is Lady Gaga
- Victoria Louise Lott is Pixie Lott
- Kathryn Elizabeth Hudson is Katy Perry
- Alecia Moore is Pink



Research on Stage Names: From Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stage_name

Motivation to use a stage name - A performer will often take a stage name because their real name is considered unattractive, dull, unintentionally amusing or difficult to pronounce or spell, or because it has been used by another notable individual or because it projects an undesired image. Sometimes a performer adopts a name that is unusual or outlandish to attract attention. Other performers use a stage name in order to retain anonymity.


I also read that other artists even use their stage name to create an image for themselves and their style of music. Therefore, I believe that by creating a stage name for our group we will be able to incorporate a whole image to reflect the artist and their music.

Trip to the Phoenix Theatre

(to be blogged)

Storyboard Practice Ke$ha

Last lesson we were looking how to improve our storyboarding techniques.
From storyboarding last year our group decided that to improve we should:
- Need to make our storyboard more detailed and precise.
- Should stick to the storyboard and not go off track.
- Over film therefore making it easier for editing and choice of shots.
- Change roles within the group.
- Be more organised when filming.
- Laminate the storyboard to protect it when were on set.


As a task we were asked to storyboard the first 30 seconds of a music video, our group chose to storyboard Ke$ha's - Tik Tok as it is from the pop genre. Here is our groups storyboard of Ke$sha's music video:

Storyboard Kesha
By doing this exercise I have learnt that it is alot better to storyboard properly and throughly. Last year when we were creating a film opening our storyboard was very basic and simple, however in just the opening 30 seconds of this music video there are 25 shots as well as multiple camera movements, shot types and editing techniques. Last year on our own storyboard we did not think of or include any of these details such as editing techniques, camera movements or length of the shots. I think our group generalised the storyline and shots of the film too much last year rather than go into detail of each shot.

This year we need to properly storyboard and have more precise and detailed descriptions shot by shot before we begin to film the music video. This will make it easier for us to film and be more prepared when we are on set.

Treatment Evaluation

After presenting our treatment to the class, they were asked to comment on what they thought about our video. The wordle above are all the words that the audience liked about our treatment for our video.

However, we had also had comments on how we could improve our video, the main criticisms was that we were risking being to direct with all the lyrics.

Our group decided that we are not going to have the actions to match all the lyrics all the time during the song, therefore the video won't be too lyrical.

Treatment Presentation

In the post below is our groups treatment presentation. We decided to create both a powerpoint presentation and a word document to hand out to the class. The treatment included every thing that we had on our mind map but in alot more detail. Our presenation was then filmed. I think our treatment went well however when uploading our video the beginning had lines across the screen and after uploading the video onto the Macs my and emilys opening slide was cut off because the tape was not running long enough. However , we uploaded our presentation on to Scribd and Youtube as the rest of the presentation was filmed without any issues.


Our Treatment Media



Emily

Music Video Wordle

Costume & Make-up Ideas

Brighton Costume:

These images on the left are the possible costume and make up ideas that we were thinking to have when we film the narrative part of our music video in Brighton.

Although our song is from the pop genre our group felt that we could show a rebelious side to the girl character, and challenge the stereotypical pop genre clothes. In most pop genre videos the girls wear very girly and colourful clothes that show off their femininity. However, in Brighton we have decided that we might dress the girl in a 'rocky' look so this would include: a leather jacket, dark jeans, military style boots and a rock band top. For make-up: dark, smokey eyes.

By putting the girl in this 'rocky' style shows a more rebeliuos side which would fit with some lyrics of the song 'Let’s go all the way tonight, No regrets, just love, We can dance until we die, You and I We’ll be young

forever' These lyrics could be described as quite contraversal as they are suggesting the couple becoming intimate together. Therefore, this style and image shows a more edgey, older girl, rather than if we dressed the girl in
girly colours and clothes as this would show a more innocenct side.

Michaela Bedroom Scene:

In another scene we were thinking to film it in Michaela's bedroom. This scene is going to be the main performance part of our music video as we decided that we were going to have the girl lipsyncing to the song while she is dancing or getting ready in her room. Therefore this meets the assesment criteria of including lipsyncng.

The bedroom scene is going to be the part of our muisc video that conforms to the general conventions that are associated with the normal pop genre.

For example in the bedroom we want to have a very girly room with fairy lights, lots of clothes, bright colours, and make-up to make the room look very feminie. Also, we may dress the girl in pink pyjamas just the ones in the photo on the right. Furthermore, we wont her to have very plain and natural make-up to enchance the innocent look.

Treatment Definition

A treatment is a short outline of a media production. They are designed to give a customer or a production team an overview of what the production will look like based on a breif given to them.
These treatments are often used to sell and promote an idea to a client, they include written descriptions, and can also have pictures, skecthes and images to help demonstrate the production they are trying to promote.

N.E.R.D

In school the Envision team put on their own dance to perform in a school assembly to raise awareness and to raise money for NERD (Necessary Education Requires Determination). The dance production was inspired by the hit TV series Glee.
They used songs from Glee soundtrack and mixed them together to create a whole show, they also created their own choreography. I helped to film the performance and the video was uploaded to YouTube to gain more publicity and awareness of our charity. From the dance the group raised a lot of money and the school really enjoyed the performance.

Below is the video from Youtube:

Lighting

Our group has been thinking about the lighting in our video. We really liked the lighting used in Beyonce's video - Halo. The video has this bright, white ambient lighting which makes the video seem quite romantic or like a dream.



I really like this video as it had really romantic lyrics and the video really fits well with the song. I like that they have got close ups of each others faces and the couple holding hands it makes the audience feel a part of their intimacy and shows the couple are really in love with each other.
This lighting would go well with our video as it could represent a dream or fantasy, which would go with the lyrics 'You make me, feel like I'm living a, Teenage Dream' If we could include these close up shots and bright lighting I think it would convey our video themes of falling in love really well.

Location Continued

We have been again looking to location further and have decided that in order to get all the filming that we need for our music video, the best thing would be to stay over at Brighton. We thought that if we could stay in a hotel there for two nights this would allow us to fully film all the shots that we would need.


We have found that there a cheap hotels that are right on Brighton beach front. This would make it easier and quicker for us to get to the beach as we are already there.
I also found this photo on the search engine google of Brighton pier, the sky and lighting in this photo creates a really romantic and calm atmosphere, which I think would be great if we could convey this same mood.

Also as we mentioned before we wanted to film the couple on some of the rides at Brighton Pier, and we found that Pink - Who Knew video.

I think that filming on the rides would be good, However, some of the rides might be more difficult to film on than others. For example if it is a really fast ride then there is a risk that the camera would be very blurry and not in focus or that we could drop the camera.
If we tried filming on the rides and the picture was too unclear then we could also just record the couple on the ride from different angles to still show that the couple are having fun and going on the rides at Brighton.

Teenage Dream - Mindmap

Our group has created a mind map of all of our ideas for our music video. We have decided to include Location, Themes, Narrative, 'Feel', Costume, Make-up/Hair, and Codes & Conventions. By doing this mind map our group was able to put down all our ideas and suggestions to what we want to include in our music video.

Location

Originally our group wanted to film the majority of our narrative part in Bournemouth right on the beach. However, after discussing and researching into the location further we have finally decided that Brighton would be an ideal location for us to film.

Brighton is known for its busy and lively student atmosphere and has a huge pier which we think would be great for our 'couple' in the video to go to. Also Brighton is alot easier to get to and it only takes about 1 hr and 45 mins to get there by train.

We think that Brighton's big club, night and student scene would really suit our pop genre as at night the pier and all the clubs will be lit up. The fact that the lights will all be lit up will add alot of colour and a happy atmosphere to our video.

Also as you can see from the picture on the right, the rides on Brighton Pier at night would be a really fun and exciting play to film. As the pier is lit up at night it adds quite a romantic feel to the music video, and again more colour to our video.

Furthermore, as the narrative of our video is about having a 'teenager crush' and feeling like your a teenager again falling in love for the first time, the location of Brighton adds to narrative of our video, as it is a fun and quite childish place.

Below are some screen shots from a television series called 'Sugar Rush'. In series 1 episode 1 the start of the scene is of two friends having fun on one of the rides in Brighton. I think that it would be good if would could add a couple of shots of the couple on some rides at Brighton.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8V62-3EYYU&p=3E40072BC92E7E5D&playnext=1&index=8