Location For Music Video

Although the majority of our scenes are set in the domestic environment of our houses and the familiarity of our own street, we felt as a group to focus some of the scenes in the video beyond this. We considered different parts of London that could reflect the narrative and the personalities of our characters. Finally, the locations we concluded with were:

Camden Town - A place known for Punks and Goths, it reflects the personality of our punk.

The Gym - represents the arrogant character's egotistcal attitude, cares what he looks like.

The Library - reflected the Nerd's hobby of reading.

Making Music Videos

Commissioning The Video
Although the music business changes with alarming speed, one thing remains constant: The record label's responsibility isto its artist's music production and to the marketing and sales of the music. Each label seeks out recording artists they feel will appeal to a wide audience, which, in return, will allow the label to sell a lot of music. The label then negotiates a recording contract with the particular artist. The contract outlines the artist's responsbilities to the record company as well as the company's responsibility to the artist, such as royalties. The label specializes in helping their artists develop the highest possible sales potential through marketing the artists and their music via the Internet, radio play, and television video networks and shows, and then selling their music through a vast array of audio and visual distribution outlets, such as Internet and iTunes and ring tones.

The record label-artist relationship is co-dependant. The reason an artist signs with a record label is three-fold:

1. Firstly, the label advances the artist money to pay for recording their music, aswell as for album artwork and marketing campaigns such as videos and commercials. It may also go towards basic living expenses. It has become increasingly prevalent for the label to negotiate deals that involve merchandising.



2. Secondly, an artist will sign to label due to their vast array of contacts in the music industry, as well as their know how in the business arena. Labels develop and market artists and act as a mentor.



3. Thirdly, the label's prestige is an important factor. Record companies are reliant on artists putting out their albums and artists rely on them too. Labels exist only to promote the artists vision as long as that vision conforms to the label's goal of achieving financial gain through music sales.

Record Company's Role in the Video Project

Although creating music videos is a team process, each record company operates differently. While every department within a label has a specific role in the process of creating the music, certain departments are more involved in the video process than others. Every record company has an Artist & Repertoire department where its executives seek out new talent and sign them to a contract to record exclusively for their label. In return, the artist receives the guidance and financial backing of the A&R team, in addition to sharing in the profits the artist makes for the label. Some of this allows the artist to write, produce and record their music. Some A&R people get involved in the video process and some do not; it depends on the persons, the relationships and the label.

Prop Making

In Friday 27th November's lesson the group had the opportunity to begin making props for our music video. We painted the sign we needed for the speed dating scenes which read "Saucy Single's Speed Dating".The sign has connotations of the devil, who of course appears in the scene.

Props we need...

One member of the production team, Reena, created a list of items which the groups needed in order to make our characters and setting appear verisimilitude. These items would be classed as the Mise-En-Scene, which plays a large role in the representations portrayed. For example, the use of candles at our speed dating setting suggests a very romantic atmosphere. It will also add soft lighting to the characters making them look dream-like. Secondly, the black attire worn by the 'Punk' will reinforce his dull personality and ambiguity as his role is very reserved. The use of glasses, and braces worn as the Geek's attire conform to the stereotype of a geek, which emphasise his supposed nerdy personality. Finally, the mirror and comb that the 'Hunk' character brings with him reveals his self loving, self obsessed personality.

Artist Inspiration

Pop sensation. Voice of her generation. Fashion designer. Political activist. Queen of MySpace. Lily Allen has been called all of these things and much much more and at 23 is Britain's most consistently engaged and engaging pop star, as well as one of our must successful. Lily Allen was born in May 1985 in Hammersmith, west London, the daughter of film producer Alison Owen and actor Keith Allen. It was an uncoventional childhood but not one without its compensations, and it made Allen wise beyond her years and tremendously motivated to carve her own place in the world. Raised alongside her sister and brother in Bloomsbury, Shepherd's Bush, Primrose Hill and Islington, she attended 13 different schools in total before abandoning her formal education at 15 and embarking on a teenage odyssey of innocence and experience: clubbing in Ibiza, studying to be a florist, always hoping to break into the entertainment industry.

She knocked on record company doors from the age of 16, and her first deal came in 2002 with Warners, who pushed her in an uncomfortably folky direction. It was two years later, working with producers Future Cut, when Allen began to find her feet as a songwriter. In 2005 she signed to Regal, and frustrated by the slow pace of the music industry, began to post demos on her MySpace page. Meanwhile, a series of live appearances at the Notting Hill nightclub Yo-Yo in the spring of 2006 whetted press and public appetites.

"Smile" was her first compostition, a song so appealing it prompted the producer Mark Ronson to fly her to New York where they collaborated on "The Littlest Things". "Smile" later won a BMI songwriting award. Ronson and Greg Kurstin were the crucial collaborators on "Alright, Still", which eventually sold 2.5 million records, broke into the Billboard top 20 in America , earned Allen 5 BRIT nominations and a spot on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2007.

It wasn't all plain sailing. The backlash, when it came was ferocious. Allen has been frequently and somewhat hysterically pilloried in the tabloids and on gossip websites for her peceived misbehaviour. She has had spats with fellow popstars. Her relationship with the papparazzi might be politely described as fraught. Her private life has been made public. Meanwhile, a series of personal traumas have occasionally threatened to overwhelm her.

Her second album, "Its Not Me, Its You", written and recorded by her and Greg Kurstin began its life in 2007. After a week and a half they had six songs and a new sound had emerged: darker perhaps, definitely dancier, clearly more mature. The album debuted at number 1 in the UK charts.

Allen signed a one year contract to present her own BBC Three TV show entitled Lily Allen and Friends based on the social networking phenomenon that helped to launch her music career. In May 2007 she launched a line of shoes, dresses and accessories called Lily Loves. Lily has taken an interest in environmental and social concerns. She performed at a benefit concert for War Child.

Due to her outspokeness, Allen has been the subject of many controversies. Disparaging remarks about musicians Bob Geldof, Amy Winehouse and Katy Perry have all garnered major press attention. She later said that making fun of other pop stars was due to a lack of confidence. Photos of her drunk and topless at the Cannes Film Festival were also widely covered in the press.

Drawing Storyboard 2 and Discussions

On Monday 9th November lesson our team continued to produce our storyboard. Discussions took place as to what ideas could still be added to the storyboard and for filming, although our storyboard sketches and annotations remain incomplete, the meeting was still productive.

1. The angles of specific scenes, especially the scenes which accompany the sharp beats at the opening of the song. The chosen angles were used to convey a specific attitude. For example the shot of the girl's earring illustrates the character's stylish persona.
2. The iMac software used to edit our music video does not have the specific editing techniques we would like to use for certain shots. This proved a problem for our idea to edit three different takes in one shot so we have decided to change the filming technique of the scene instead.
3. The reliability of the characters and an agreement that if the actors are not available on the filming date, we must find another actor. This is due to the short time period we have to film.

Costume Designs

Our team have discussed the appropriate attire for the protagonist characters in our music video. As our characters are of the stereotypical punk, hunk, geek and girly girl character traits it is important to portray their personality through their costumes.

Reena has studied the iconography of each character and created a montage of images that reflect their implied qualities.

The personality of this character is apparent through her casual clothing which reflect her cool attitude. Like a majority of teenage girls, it is apparent this girl has an interest in fashion.

This is our punk character. His black clothing reflects connotations expressing a sinister appearance. The heavy make up however could act as a disguise, revealing that the character is not at all confident in themselves.

The hunk appears to be similar to the female character with their trendy fashion and modern clothing. But the various designer items have connotations of an arrogant attitude.

This is our geek character. This is because of his old fashioned style, which reflects his lifestyle and personality stereotypically. However his traits change drastically throughout the video as he becomes more confident and eventually makes his transformation as Superman. He is a reference to the character of Clarke Kent in the Superman comics and films.

Characters and Cast

As filming begins as early as in two weeks our team have already begun to discuss and consider the characters in our narrative and the remaining members of the cast. The final decisions are based upon factors such as the ability to stay in role for long periods of time, availablity to film and general image. The general image to us is the most important factor as it is essential the characters appear within the age range of ten to nineteen. This makes them easier for the audience to relate to, so understanding the characters within more depth.

Characters
(Protaganist Characters)

1. Female - Reena Chadee
2. Boy Date (Punk) - Robyn Oliver
3. Boy Date (Hunk) - Mike
4. Boy Date (Geek) - Krishna Mootoosamy

(Characters)

1. Young Boy - Cameron
2. Devil - April McKay
3. Screaming Girl 1 - Laura Fredericks

Using, Developing and Challenging Conventions

To analyse the ways in which our storyboard uses, develops and challenges the conventions of pop music videos, I have compared it to three popular pop videos; Taylor Swift's You Belong With Me, Miley Cyrus' Party In The USA and Jonas Brothers Burnin' Up.

You Belong With Me



Party In The USA


Burnin' Up


Conventions:

• Many scenes exaggerate humour, which appeals to a young audience.
  
• There is a balance of domestic and public scenes, which relates to the stereotypical lifestyle of young adults.


• The artist/band might want to develop their own star iconography, which becomes their star image.
  
• Pop artists usually promote themselves in music videos by starring in the video themselves.
  
• Edited transitions such as fades and wipes are used in order to create a surreal atmosphere .


• Mise-en-scene in all the videos for example the street dancers, bikes, couples and clothing style are all associated with youths.
  
• Long shots are utilised, revealing the costumes and Mise en Scene which appeal to youth culture, as well as close ups illustrating the emotions behind the songs.
  

Although our song was created using computer software, the variety of instruments and vocals gives the impression that a band was involved. In this sense, our video is challenging the conventions of a pop band's video. The artist/band usually appear in their own video in order to promote themselves, sometimes as a part of the narrative, sometimes separate. However our team have decided not to have a band feature and focus rather on the narrative as it is quite strong to carry the whole video through and address the audience through its comic elements. We made use of lip synchronisation, close up shots and the repetition of chorus scenes. This engages the audience and repeating scenes will allow the video to flow better as it links the different verses.

Drawing Storyboard 1

On Friday 23rd October our team began to draw up our official storyboard from our previous notes. However, we have decided that the information regarding camera angles, movements and transitions would be left blank until a later date due to the idea that there may be last minute changes to this section.

Beginning to Storyboard 2

In our next session, our group met to finish the final outline of the storyboard and make some minor changes to the previous days work.

Beginning to Storyboard

Our team have finally had the chance to begin working on our storyboard for our music video. We had many ideas, but they were general ideas rather than specific which made the ability to begin the storyboard confusing. Therefore we decided to plan our storyboard in a different way that we hadn't used last year at AS. We played the track many times to learn the lyrics and then timed each section, (for example 0.54-1.10) and applied a specific scene to it. However after a while we realised this was becoming time consuming but was still a productive way as it would help us to film the exact details and timing of the scenes aswell as to starting our storyboard off and gaining some clear ideas into how we want our music video to go.

Sound and Vision in Pop/Pop Rock

The relationship between sound and image evident in the use of song and underscore in film is also evident in pop videos. A great deal of research carried out on pop music reveals that pop is concerned with the issues brought up within the narrative. Alf Bjornberg argues that there are two structural aspects to popular music, narrative and epic, both of which are derived from Richard Middleton's studies of popular music, and his distinction between the two categories of musical syntax. In contrast to the narrative category, which priveleges difference, there is what we can call an "epic mode, where the focus is on repetition and varied repetition; and inbetween comes a "lyrical" category".

Bjornberg defines a narrative musical syntax as having "linear" properties, in which there is no repetition in the music so the music is continuously moving forward, while an epic syntax has "circular" properties which is most common in Pop music. He says "...Most popular music depends on repetition of some kind, be they musical riffs or hooks, chords, sequences arranged into sections such as verse and chorus or even vocal repetitions."

The most common kinds of musical syntax evident in pop songs are therefore "epic" or "lyrical" structures, with musical "narrative" structure being much less common. This is the area where the sounds and visuals of pop music videos differ most greatly. General music videos may make great use of linear narratives, but pop music videos are just as likely to make use of a circular visual narrative.

Sound and Vision

The relationship between sound and image evident in the use of song and underscore in film is also evident in pop video, but with one main difference according to Phillip Tagg - "the pop video is a "visualisation of music rather than sonorisation of image". He also suggests that listeners of pop music already "visualise" the music they hear using a series of semantic connections they hear created by the text. A mini-movie therefore appears in the listener's mind, and each version is different, since people react to music differently.

Will Straw sees promotional videos as a threat to the listener's individualtiy and that it seems to take away the responsibility of visualising the music. He states that the use of the music video is "diminishing the interpretive liberty of the individual music listener who, when presented with a promo clip, seems to have visual or narrative interpretations of song lyrics imposed on him or her".

Accoring to Goodwin "the debate about whether or not the video image triumphs over the song itself needs to take account of where the emphasis lies in the visualisation, and whether or not it ILLUSTRATES, AMPLIFIES, or CONTRADICTS the meaning of the song.

Amplification introduces new meanings that do not conflict with the lyrics but that add layers of meanings.



llustration uses visual narrative to tell the story of the song lyric.




Contradiction has the visuals contradicting the narrative of the song.

Interaction With The Audience

Serious attempts have been made to emulate the films; Madonna employed both a movie director and actor Christopher Walken for the clip for Bad Girl (1992), while David Lynch was employed to direct Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy in 1990. The trouble is, as is the case with the clips taken from movies, is that the music has very little to do with the images presented. Andrew Goodwin states that "songs are not the movies". He argues that music videos should incorporate lip-synchronization so the performer is addressing the viewer directly, as apposed to the distance between actor and audience in a movie, brought about by ignoring the camera in an attempt to act "more natural". This brings a voyeuristic quality to watching movies that doesn't manifest itself in music video, where lip-synching sees to embrace the viewer, bringing them into the action. An example is Massive Attack's Protection (1995) set in an apartment block, into which we are looking from the outside. Any feeling of intrusion is calmed by the regular appearence of Tracey Thorn who seems to sing directly to us.

Massive Attack - Protection

The Value of Sound in Music Videos

Much of the research on music video makes only fleeting references (if any) to the music, causing one to question the value of sound in music video. Many music videos such as Madonna's Material Girl video from 1985 incorporates iconography and images from Marilyn Monroe's Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend film. There are obvious links between music videos and films, especially considering that many current chart hits are used to promote a movie rather than the the artist's own album. Recent examples are Guns'n'Roses You Could Be Mine from Terminator 2.

This features extensive film footage in their accompaying promo clips, and UB40's (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You from Silver has been filmed in a style relevant to the themes of voyeurism and hidden cameras that dominate the movie it is taken from. However, music videos that apply film footage and similar filming techniques rarely follow the song lyrics and music.

Guns'n'Roses - You Could Be Mine

UB40 - (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You

Superman - Barrie Gledden Lyrics

He struts his stuff like his the Mac daddy,

He's one of a kind, invincible and ready,

To take on the world, He's got sex appeal

The man is a dream, the devil did him a deal,

Unstoppable, incredible, irresistible and powerful,

The one and all number one,

He's Superman [superman], he's Superman,

That man's got style, that man's got flare,

Try to compete, oh don't you dare,

He's got the moves, he makes me shiver inside,

And he knows it, yeh he knows it,

Unstoppable, Incredible, Irresistible and Powerful,

The one and all, number one,

He's Superman [superman], he's superman,

He struts his stuff like his the Mac daddy,

He's one of a kind, invincible and ready,

To take on the world, He's got sex appeal

The man is a dream, the devil did him a deal,

That man's got style, that man's got flare,

Try to compete, oh don't you dare,

He's got the moves, he makes me shiver inside,

And he knows it, yeh he knows it,

Unstoppable, Incredible, Irresistible and Powerful,

The one and all, number one,

He's Superman [superman], he's superman,

Superman[superman]

Ehhhhhhhhhhh

C'mon Superman [superman]

Yeh he knows it

[superman]He knows it [superman]