Shot list

Here is a list of the possible shots which we plan to take, and a vague outline of the content of them.

Risk Assessment

Part of our planning phase included an assessment of possible precautions we would need to take to prepare for risks.
We'd do this via predicting risks, and then analysing what we could do to lower them to an acceptable level.

Costumes and Props

Here is a list of the costumes and props that we plan to be using.

More detailed research into artist

It has been hard to do more detailed research on The Colours; they didn't really hit mainstream back in 2010, so there aren't many sources that talk about them, besides their website.

Here are some of the promotional pictures they have used:

They had made other previous releases, classed as Extended Plays (EPs). These are multiple songs, but there aren't enough of them to be able to class the songs as an album.

Storyboard (full picture)

Treatment for music video

The band have not made much of a stir as of recently, with their last tour having been in 2010.
Searching for their music videos which they have made, there appear to be none. This leaves us open in our options, such as what image we want to convey, how to get across our unique selling point, and how we want to compare ourselves to our competitors. 

Luckily, there aren't many popular bands that have a similar sound to The Colours. This is a huge gap in the market, and their unique sound is potentially one of their stronger unique selling points. The lack of competition also means that getting well known will make them a dominant force in the industry.

Upon reviewing of some of their videos on YouTube, their main demographic appears to be young females in their teens (and slightly older), as well as some teen males. 

The song's lyrics seem, on the surface, to be putting a sad atmosphere out there. However the beat, melody, and rhythm contradict this. That is why for the video, we decided to opt for a cheery atmosphere.

Shots of a band playing instruments and lipsyncing will be interjected throughout the video (as with almost every music video). In addition to this, there will be a narrative.

The narrative is, in simple terms, a few lads getting ready to hit a party (something a young audience could relate to). But first, they rendevouz at the house of a friend. 

It starts off with the hero (who will be lipsyncing in the band) getting out of the shower and getting dressed, to get ready for a night out. The first thing he does as he arrives to his room is turn on his iPod/radio/some sort of musical device, following the stereotype of a geeky teenager, for comic effect. Upon his doing this, the music starts playing. He will be walking in his room with nothing but a towel on, and will grab a hairbrush, starting to sing to it whilst occasionally combing his hair, again following a stereotype that the target audience might be able to relate to. For example:

After approximately half a minute his friends will arrive at the door and ring the doorbell. The doorbell ringing will be heard, and the music will temporarily stop for this, and the next scene. The hero will come downstairs and greet his friends, and then go back upstairs under the pretense that he needs to get changed (as he does need to), with the intention of lipsyncing during this.

However, when he goes up, the friends downstairs hear loud thumping from upstairs - it is evident that the protagonist is prancing around in his bedroom. The music then resumes with the hero trying on many different outfits, whilst still lipsyncing. This is an idea that I have borrowed from Taylor Swift's video, You Belong With Me, which has a similar demographic of young females, and teenagers in general. 

We will the cut to a shot of him downstairs with his friends, as they all prepare with drinks, of Sunny D (or some other non-alcoholic, juice-like product) - again for comic effect. All the while the hero is singing at the friends.

The friends note that this behaviour is unusual for the protagonist, and they are visibly displeased with their friends' erratic dancing and singing.

The song then ends as the friends leave, whilst the hero has just finished his number.

                     

There will then be a few seconds left to the video where the hero gives chase to his friends, who have already gone some distance down the road.

Magazine Advert Analysis

The album cover stands out - the image of the person deviates from the norm in that it's not an actual person, and that the picture appears to have been formed via a collage. This makes it quite eye catchy in the context of a magazine - which will normally be full of faces of young models.

The black-and white face (and rainbow) is also somewhat reflective of the kind of music that is on the album. Most of the songs have very simple melodies and rhythms - which an audience can simultaneously keep track of at once.




The way in which the text is laid out on the advert as well, is projecting an image that the music does not fit within the mainstream category. This means that the target audience they are looking for will be attracted to the advert, and may decide to look into the band.

Animatic

Our Animatic

Storyboard

We will have a bit in the beginning of the video where there is no music. The song is introduce via the hero turning on a musical device.

The second shot will have the song start playing, and have the hero singing to a hairbrush as he prepares for a night out.

We will then cut to shots and edits of the band (actually we will be doing this throughout), so that the audience don't get bored.

The music will then cut out just before the chorus, and then the sound in the narrative will become audible to the audience. The sound of the music will get interrupted by the doorbell as the friends wait outside. Jump cuts will then be used to show the hero coming down, and opening the door.

Upon their entering in the house, the hero will the resume the chorus, singing at his friends, whilst he creeps upstairs.

It will then cut to the band, with possibly a change in scenery of where the band are, just to keep things fresh.

The hero will then return downstairs, singing at his friends once again. As he does this, it becomes blatant to the audience how the friends were not taking this well and visibly disliked this. 

They then proceed to leave, whilst the hero finishes off the song. Upon it's finishing, he realises they have left and proceeds to give chase, as the video fades to black.

Famous Album Art Analysis

The Beatles

Abbey Road (Album)

This album is actually a very renowned one - with most people having seen this picture (or at least a homage) of it. The destination has become a popular place to visit for fans of The Beatles.

This album is commonly known to most people with countless homages and parodies having been made of it.

This image was actually taken just outside Abbey Road studio, as this was actually cheaper. In addition to it, the simplicity of the picture reflects on how their music is also simple.

Pink Floyd

The Dark Side Of The Moon (Album)

The designer of this cover was George Hardie. The band were initially offered seven designs, but this was the one that was chosen. The rationale for this was that it represented three things:

• The stage lighting of the band
• The lyrics of the album
• The request of a Richard Wright, asking for a design which was simple yet bold

The colours continue across the gatefold (it continues to the other side of the packaging as well). This was apparently a representation of the consistent 'heartbeat' sound that was in the background of all the songs on this album.

Surveymonkey

We designed a survey to give us some advice on how we should make our music videos. For example, our question on the kind of favourite music videos people have will allow us (after analysis) to see what common things are between them. We may then choose to emulate some of the elements involved in those videos.

This survey could also inform us if there are certain preferences a certain genre would have in a music video. 

E.g. a listener of classical music would likely not be drawn to a scene where clubbing is involved/

The link to the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X68PGSZ

Vox Pops - Finished

Here is our attempt to create and edit Vox Pops. Enjoy!

Inspiration for our music video

We have numerous inspirations for our music video - here is one of them.

We may decide to start using other (possibly inanimate) objects to represent the protagonist(s) as well.

The Colours - Brief research

The Colours consider themselves to be a Pop, Dance, and Alternative band.
They come from the United Kingdom, in Reading. 

They are currently a relatively unknown group. According to their website, their last tour happened at 2010, for the purposes of promoting their single, Tonight I Let You Go, which is the song we are using in our music video.

They said about their debut album, "You can expect a showcase for all things pop coupled with electronic intonations that border on Europop and melodies akin to early Wham. "

This gives us an idea of what kind of image they are attempting to broadcast, and perhaps what elements we could use in our music videos. 

Rough outline of initial ideas

Rough outline of initial ideas.

Real Digipak Analysis

Taylor Swift

Fearless

Taylor Swift is a young female artist, whose main target audience is young females. Most of her songs are about love and the struggles she goes through in her life.

Swift has not been a female artist that (purposefully) uses sex appeal to attract an audience. This is because her target audience is young females, as is demonstrated by the content of her songs (mainly about love, and girl problems). The stereotypical male would not be expected to listen to this, so the album cover instead addresses the female population. 

The white dress she is wearing, and the relatively pale background have connotations of purity and innocence, which is an image Swift attempts to convey.

In addition to this, her name is in a font that appears to be handwritten. This makes the album seem more heartfelt and less about just selling records, which appeals to her target audience who likely care about emotion and creativity.

The way in which her hair is also blow almost away in some way 'exposes' her, which emphasises the album title, "Fearless". As well as this it stands out and so is likely to catch the eye of a prospective consumer.

The back of the album again has the song list in a handwritten font. The way in which the handwriting is could also be interpreted as quite girly, so the listener would feel better able to relate to the music.

Her dress is again light colours, conveying purity. She is clearly attempting to keep a "good girl" image, which she is successful in via the connotations of her costume choice. The dress she is wearing is also very elegant - which has connotations of big occasions such as a prom (something girls could relate to, as the stereotype is for females to look forward to prom strongly).

As well as the colours of her dress, the shape of it (which shows off Swift's figure) is something girls could idolize. The lighting (very bright) is done in a way that makes her looks stand out (bright light tends to show attractiveness), and this also makes her digipak stand out from the shelf. 
This could apply to men and not just women - her innocent image is something that stands out in the current culture in which a high majority of female artists use their sex appeal to gain a wider audience.

Expanding Audiences and Increasing Sales

How would you go about doing it?

Firstly, information is needed. Research is required, knowing what exactly appeals to which people.

For example, an artist such as Taylor Swift would involve elements in her music videos and digipaks that would appeal to a young female audience, as this is her target audience.

An artist such as Skrillex would possibly convey a more festival/concert atmosphere in his videos and album covers.

In addition to using appealing camera, editing, and mis-en-scene elements in material, publicity must also be gained through several mediums.

For example, more and more people are using the internet as a means of searching for music videos. Music channels are also a good place to put songs out to - however only the very popular (and usually already well known) make it to the charts.

The internet is definitely a place to thrive in for a more small time artist, such us the band who's song we are currently looking at using.
However in order to address all audiences, other mediums such as newspaper adverts could be used. This would target the older generation, who are less likely to be using the internet for searching music videos.
Newspapers have done this previously - having a free copy of a CD with their newspapers. In this way they work together in order to generate more sales and publicity for both of them.

The Media Institution

In order to find a director for a music video, artists generally require the use of a record label company.

The company then proceeds to send the song of to several directors (five to ten), who will then submit their treatments (note that in this part of the process, the directors are still unpaid).

The director that created the best treatment will get the job, and only then will they get paid. The others will be unpaid, and hope to get a new song soon.

Because of the way the business works, the directors can't just wait for a song that they like. They must treat the song as nothing more than business, and even if they didn't like the song they would have to put in their best creative efforts.

Vox Pops - Prelude

Vox Populi - Latin, for "voice of the people".

Vox Pops are interviews done in public places, and they are formatted in a way that presents the public giving a spontaneous opinion, in which they have been randomly selected from a crowded people. 
They are often used in the news, to present a representation of the public's opinion. Usually this will show 'balance', so that varying opinions are heard from equally.

Each person is asked the same question/set of questions, and the aim is to get a wide number of opinions.

The journalists are instructed to approach a variety of people, to make sure each background is represented as equally as possible.

Here is an example of a Vox Pops

We will be making our own Vox Pops. Stay tuned for the final results.

The task, however, will be staged.

Our questions will consist of:

• Do you watch music videos?
• What is your favourite music video?
• What do you like about music videos?
• What makes a great music video?
• Where do you watch music videos?

We are aiming to have our interviewer look at the camera as they are saying the questions, and then have our interviewees looking away from the camera (towards the interviewer, at an angle).