Project log 29/08/13

Project Log 29/08/13

Research into the pop music genre

Research into the pop music genre

This powerpoint above is one I have created containing all of the research I have done into the pop music genre. It goes into details of the early stages of pop, the different definitions of pop, some traditional pop artists from the 1950s to the 1960s, some examples of their songs and a little bit about themselves, some current pop artists and finally a summary of the pop genre which was basically about the pop dynamics etc.. I found creating this presentation actually really helped me because it gave me a bigger and better insight on pop and its history.

Artist styling and costume planning

This prezi above contains all of my initial ideas on costume planning and artist styling for my actress and actor in my music video. I basically explained how I would like my actress to come across as innocent, feminine and natural, whereas I would like my actor to come across as a typical masculine "bad boy". Through the costume and makeup I believe I have created a strong contrast between the actor's which will be interesting for the audience to view. Creating this prezi has really helped me because it has given me a lot more of an idea on the identity of my two actor's and what their characters will be like in my music video.

Project log 27/08/13

Today, because it's the Summer holidays and I have been in Mexico for the past 2 weeks I took it to my own initiative and went on the Haydon School website, then onto my own school documents, found the A2 level check list and began to go through what I had and hadn't completed task-wise. So today I finished my resource audit and uploaded it, aswell as doing the research task on a music video director and uploading that too. Aswell as this, I went to my friends and asked them for some feedback on my music video planning ideas. They wrote their feedback down on a piece of paper for me and I have transferred it to my blog and uploaded it on here. Although it is very last minute, I did change my choice in song for my music video very last minute, changing it from "Only Love" by Ben Howard to "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. This means that today I have also had to delete many of my previous tasks and re-do them all, which I have done fine. For example, for my "contact with the band" task, I deleted my print screen of the one I had done previously, and re-did it for "Love Story" by Taylor Swift instead. I now feel a lot more organised with where I am heading in my A2 music video project.

Project log 28/08/13

Today, because it's the Summer holidays, I have decided to continue with what I was doing yesterday and catch up very much so on all the work I need to do. Today I have finished a mood board, my initial planning ideas, also I uploaded all of the research tasks to my coursework blog because I realised I needed them on here aswell as on just my exam blog. Lastly, I have also begun my research on the pop genre which I will finish off tomorrow. I also plan on starting to video some of my past and future project logs as I have realised I need to use a variety of techniques in how I post them, not just using this text.

Mood board

Mood Board

Abov is a mood board I created of all the images I believe relate to the 'pop' genre and the story of my music video. Furthermore I also believe that all of the above images portray the sort of setting I want to use in my music video, such as the photos of the fields, London, flowers, a sunny sky, sand, etc.. It portrays the overall potential vibe of my music video with the "love" images and overall the happiness it exemplifies. I have also shown what sort of costume I would like my protagonist actress Georgina to wear, for example the floral dress and the white converse. Finally, the "good vs bad" image relates very much so to the storyline of my music video, as Georgina and Matt (my two actors) will be complete opposites; - Matt being "bad" and Georgina being "good". Hopefully by the time that my music video is finished I would have adapted most of these images to it in order to keep to the pop genre and also maintain my audience's interest.

Initial planning ideas

• Using Georgina and her boyfriend Matt as the main two protagonists as they will be the boy and girl in a past relationship
• Georgina is the main protagonist who singing at the same time as the narrative following along side
• The story will be in chronological order set in "stages", easy for the audience to follow
• I will also use only several slow motion shots of my friend Jessica performing her gymnastics, so that there is some interesting slow movement for the audience to watch, to seperate scenes and represent the flowing of emotion through her gymnastics ribbon

Brief storyline:

My music video will be half narrative, half performance based. The performance part will be my female actress Georgina walking through the woods, the camera following her, and she mimes to the song after having "just been through a break up", finding random props laying on the floor in her path as she goes along. However, these props are actually figures of her imagination, even though the viewers will still be able to see the props. Each time she curiously picks up a prop, it will merge into a flashback of her last relationship. This will happen each time with the props where they link to a "stage" of her relationship since I want to portray the "5 stages of a relationship" through these flashbacks. This will of course be the narrative part of the music video where Matt, my other actor comes into it. Then, each time it will go back to the performance and Georgina will realise that the "prop" in her hand has dissappeared and isn't actually really there, so she will continue her journey in the woods.

The "5 stages of a relationship"

• excitement/nervousness
• comfortability/falling inlove
• distrust
• heart-break/breaking-up
• acceptance

Costume & makeup:

• Matt: he needs to have a typical bad boy, "masculine" image. So perhaps jeans, a t shirt and trainers. Just a casual look really.
• Georgina in performance: she needs to have an innocent, vulnerable look that isn't overtly sexual. In this case she will wear flowy, floral dresses and casual outfits really. She will wear minimal makeup. She will look like a normal teen because I want teenagers (my target audience) to feel they can relate to her.
• Georgina in narrative: Georgina will have many different looks in the narrative side of my music video, because of course the "stages" shown are going to be flashbacks of different times so every outfit needs to be different, and in order to create a strong contrast and difference between each stage, Georgina's costume needs to be distinctive in each one. So, for example, for the "excitement/nervousness stage" Georgina will be getting ready to go on a date with Matt for the first time, so she will wear a glamorous dress and slightly more make-up. Contrarily to this, when she is in the "comfortable/inlove stage" with Matt, she will wear her hair up, no make-up and tracksuit bottoms to represent that she is comfortable.
• Jessica: Because Jessica will be performing her gymnastics in my music video, I will have her simply wear her gymnastics leotard. This is so that she looks professional and her act is believable to the audience.

Research into media language

I created this video with Adobe Premiere Pro cs6 by importing all of tjhe slides from mine and Janani's original npowerpoint, then I added the video of us presenting it,. I removed the video and kept the audio for it instead so that it went along with the slides, and I added any more necessary slides. Aswell as this, I converted two music videos that I wanted to use as examples and imported them onto Adobe Premiere Pro. I was satisfied with the result and uploaded it here.





This is mine and Janani's original powerpoint for Media Language. We created it on Power Point, and presented it to the class.

Media Language

Research into representation

This is a video I have created on Windows Movie Maker which explains representation aswell as asking the audience what sort of questions they should be asking themselves.

Research into narrative

Narrative structure:

Narrative Structure by hannahalley

This is a powerpoint I have created which outlines narrative within media, also giving examples too.

Research into genre

This is a prezi I have created, consisting of my explaining genre and how it is used within audiences and producers.

Research into a music video director

This is a prezi I have created on the research into a music video director called Roman White. I used google to do my research.

Audience feedback

I went over to some of my friends and family and asked them to look at my lyric analysis and resource audit, and give me some good and bad feedback on my ideas. They wrote their feedback down on a piece of paper and I transferred it onto here. Overall I found the feedback very helpful because it means I can improve on parts that my target audience generally found bad, and feel good about the parts that seem to have gone well so far. I am definitely planning on using this feedback in the future to improve my music video.

Rag'e Ali

As you can see here, I told Rag'e about the ideas I had for my music video and asked him for some feedback. I filmed him at school doing so.

Transcript:

Hannah: What do you think of my storyboard so far and the ideas that I've created?

Rag'e: from looking at your storyboard and your initial ideas, I like the fact that you've done an idea that all girls can relate to with the five stages of a break-up, like denial, acceptance, her being excited about like dating the guy and then finding out that he's cheated or he's texting someone else. It's something that really represents all teenagers, so I think that's a good idea.

Hannah: Thank you. Do you think there's any improvements I need to make on it?

Rag'e: In terms of improvements I'd say just make sure she knows the lyrics and that the costume's right and that in terms of filming it it's not too hard to interpret, I'd say. Make sure it's something you can achieve in terms of props and stuff like that and it's easy to grab.

Hannah: What sort of costume do you think my main female protagonist should have?

Rag'e: For costume I'd say that if you're going to do the five stages, make them really distinctive and seperate from eachother, so that when she's at the nervous stage she can wear this really glitzy dress, and when she goes into the cheating stage make sure she wears all black. Make them all really purporised and different.

Hannah: Do you think my ideas actually fit with the song?

Rag'e: I like the idea that it's quite ironic with the fact that this is an up-tempo song, the fact that this is such a depressing/sad moment for all teenage girls and teenage boys, so I like the idea that it's ironic and the fact that it's ironic is even better and it works and it's seperate from the original song.

Hannah: Thank you.

Jessica Wambeek

"There is a good consistency between the lyrics and the visuals which is good because it means the music video will be thorough and the audience can completely understand the story. Just make sure that it doesn't become too cliché and obvious so that the audience can't predict it too much. But apart from that I think that the ideas are imaginative and it will work!"

Georgina Weatherall

This is a print screen I took of the text Georgina sent me on my phone with feedback on my music video ideas:

Transcript:

Your idea for the music video is well thought-out and solid which I like. I love the idea of the female picking up imaginary props, because its mysterious as its something the audience have to figure out themselves :) the five stages is something your target audience can actually relate to so I can see it being successful. Great ideas :)

Sinead Hamilton

"My first impression is that you've got some great ideas for your music video. I believe that many teenagers will be able to relate to your music video. All I'd say is just make sure that the story doesn't become confusing for the people who are watching it from scene to scene. But overall I reckon it's going to turn out great."

Max Alley

"You've made sure to include a variety of settings throughout the music video and also there are different scenes per chorus which is good and original, since most music videos use the same, if not similar scenes for each chorus which can become boring and repetitive. I'd just advise you not to make the music video too similar to the lyrics or it'll become predictable for those viewing it."

Sara Dinler

"Very creative ideas for your music video and the fact that you've used a storyline where everything is fine at the start, then there is a problem and finally everything is not too bad at the end, will be quite satisfying for the audience and I reckon it'll make them feel like there is something substantial in there that will keep them watching."