We sent this email to Columbia Records asking permission to uses Beyonce's song 'Schoolin' Life' for our music video. This is to show that we understand the terms of copyright and don't go against them in the production of this video. We have also explained how the song will be used to create a video for educational purposes only.
We made this sheet so that when it comes to editing our clips together we can fit the lip sync, movements and narrative to the correct lyrics. We added numbers and added time scales to each line maximising the ease of use and making work easier for the future. It also links in with our initial ideas sheet as we use the numbers of each line off this sheet to number our ideas.
We emailed a professional director asking for further information on the research and planning that goes into making a music video. He emailed us back with this original treatment sheet for Tulisa's 'Live It up'. From this we will look at ideas from other music videos (as done in this treatment) and be inspired by this method of research.
Conventions: A female solo artist's pop music video would usually include lots of close ups so the audience can recognise them- usually requirements of the record label. Motifs may occur eg. a sexy theme in every music video. A lot of shots of their body would also be included due to the male gaze theory- this applies to this video as there are a lot of shots of Rihanna's body when she is dancing and wearing revealing clothing. You would expect to see an illustrative relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, and the tone and atmosphere should reflect the music. Dancing would be involved, which is also captured in this music video, even though it isn't strictly choreographed dance routines.
At the beginning the music hasn't started and all you can hear is the breeze, a long shot shows Rihanna stood by herself in the middle of a field letting the wind blow through her fingers. The whole of this music video has a pink tinge to it, suggesting her female expectations of a relationship, and also connoting love. The sound of the wind is eery and quite scary- like something you'd expect from a horror movie, but she is basking in it. A close up flashes onto the screen showing her using direct mode of address- which quickly engages the audience and also leaves them wanting to know more due to the speed of the shot. The mixture between these two shots continues for a few more seconds until the sound of a record scratch kicks in and the fast paced shots replicate the sound.
A close up of Rihanna's face is the first thing you see when the music starts and from then on all of the shots match the thought beats of the music. The pace of the shots match the tempo of the music- however some are extra fast which put across that uncomfortable atmosphere. One shot shows Rihanna throwing some petals towards the camera, and then right afterwards the same clip is played in reverse, again giving an unnatural look. The same is repeated with her scarf. She is dancing in front of a wall of flowers which connote a girly, fun and innocent theme, however Rihanna subverts this by doing sexy moves in front.
When the first verse starts Rihanna sings directly to the camera, she whips off her cardigan as if to say 'i'm ready to start' and her dance moves and facial expressions add a cheeky edge. A long shot shows her spinning around having fun then zooms out to an extreme long shot showing the landscape. You then realise she is the only person there at that time, and this carries on throughout the video- as she is singing about being the only girl in the world, and she is the only girl, or person, in the video.
When it comes to the chorus she falls into the bed of roses and her movements are disjointed and 'twitch' (due to editing) which emphasises the prodigious beats. Next the shots are mixed between a close up of Rihanna singing and a long shot of her walking through the flowers- which only shows on the beats mentioned previously. These shots of the flowers are then the next main shot- and you realise the flashing images was a clever transaction. When she throws her hands back the flowers blow as if a reaction, enforcing her importance in this video.
Next we see Rihanna in the deserted landscape again, but this time surrounded by giant balloons. This portrays the happiness she is looking for and may suggest a playful side to her nature. It also adds to the fact that she is in a nonsensical world, where anything can happen, also shown by the next 'scene' with the giant rose. The voyeurism theory is presented here and throughout the video as some of the shots are as if the camera isn't even there, and we're just looking in on her.
In the next chorus Rihanna is singing on a mountain top, using exaggerated arm movements and facial expressions- as if she is declaring her feelings to the world. This helps put the message of the lyrics across and helps us to understand how she is feeling. She has also changed outfit again here. All of her clothes throughout the music video are very girly eg. frilly, sparkly, pink- they are also quite revealing to allow the male gaze shots to work.
Soon after this, Rihanna is on top of lots of ladders, reaching up, as if she is yearning for something. It may also portray her as being on top of the world, and again is unrealistic but adds to the surreal atmosphere, as with the swing in the next setting. It connotes fun and youthfulness, which is what she is describing she wants to feel like in her relationship. The sparkles on her headband turn into the fireworks in the next scene which is another clever transaction. The fireworks portray the way she wants to feel, 'like i'm the only girl in the world' and is good imagery to match the stereotypical quote of 'feeling a spark' or 'like sparks are flying'. Slo motion is used when the song 'thins' and doesn't have as much going on, but when the beat kicks back in again the fireworks represent the music but Rihanna is still in her own little world. The flashing dresses on the tree match the beat of the music and as they are all the same but she isn't wearing one it enforces her unique identity.
You would expect to see the artist's name, the name of the album, and a picture or image on the front cover of a digipak, this cover has a very girly theme, and helps the audience to recognise the artist as she is well-known for her quirky outlook. This is the typical 50s 'American Dream' theme. The picture is also aged to make it look authentic for this era. Katy's pose is steroetypical of this era and the clothes she is wearing make her look like a 50s pin up. All of the colours are very bright and reflect on Katy's personality. Katy is positioned in the middle of the frame as she is the main focus, she also uses direct mode of address to grab your attention. Various props are placed around which add to the theme and let your eyes wander eg. the flamingos and the old turn table. The birghtly coloured flowers and white picket fence create the American Dream and expose her girly nature. The text is in her signature font used on almost every album or advert of hers (which will also help the audience recognise it is her) and the colours compliment the picture. The stars and hearts in her name again add to the girly vibe. This digipak cover may suggest that Katy doesn't follow trends eg. by creating a modern styled cover, she sticks to what she likes and sets her own trends. The potential target audience would be female however males may also be attracted by her appearance but probably wouldn't buy this album.
This image is very playful with the rubber ducks in the paddling pool, the cartoon blue bird and the heart-shaped lollipop. The cherry tree coordinates with the cherry on her top and add to the femininity of this picture and the feeling she is trying to provoke or sweet and happiness.The names of the songs are in the same font as the front cover but the smallprint and less important things are in a 'normal' font- as that part isn't strongly connected to Katy but her songs are. The white writing matches the sky with the clouds, and this is used on the spine as an interesting yet simple background for the text. All of the appropriate symbols and logos are displayed but are not the main feature.
This is the inside of the digipak. The first image is a medium close up of Katy looking directly at the camera, again the colours are bright to fit in with the fruity theme. Her expression may suggest a slightly dark/deeper side to some of her songs or may simply be a seductive stance to entice the audience. The second image depicts the tropical theme very obviously, also using a lot of bright colours. This shows her quirky side and gives a perfect example of how she likes to use food as themes.
The disc displays a cartoon-style strawberry which fits in with the fruity theme. However the black leaves subvert the bright and happy feel and give a rocky, dark look. This may be suggesting a different side to Katy without miss-matching themes which would confuse an audience. The typical font is used but in pink to match the image and the logos are shown smaller on either side of the image as again they are less important.
This is the booklet that comes with the digipak. As you can see it fits in with the theme and even uses images from the digipak. The headings are framed in banners which look girly and add to the 50s American Dream style. The clouds are used as a background again to tie in with the spine, cover and back of the digipak.
This image acts as a poster, which can be taken out of the booklet and displayed. It is similar to the cover and was probably considered for that use, but will have been decided it works better for the booklet. The colours and props have been carefully thought out to portray the typical 50s life.
This image is playful yet seductive and shows off Katy's personality well, this image will have been carefully chosen to give the audience an idea of what she is like.
Most magazine advertisements would be expected to show an image of the artist and their name, then the title of the album and when it is released. Some sort of company/institute record label will be shown as well.
The main image on this advertisement is a mid close up of Jessie J's face. The way she is represented herem (facial expressions, clothing, jewellery, make-up) is typical of her persona, a lot of black is used as some of her songs are dark and deep, and it also adds to her 'different' personality, as although she is a female pop star she isn't the stereotypical girly-girl. The gold may signify that she is of high importance in the pop industry. The Main text 'Jessie J' looks like a gold medallion, perhaps to hint at her slightly 'hard' personality. The name of the album is made to look hand-written, probably by Jessie, as she writes a lot of her songs so they are personal to her. All the of the text fits in with the colour scheme and is central, to grab your attention and show importance. The record label logos are displayed in the bottom corners as they are less important than the rest of the text. This advert tells us Jessie J isn't very well known (at the time it was released) because it is her debut album, so they have used a close-up to let the audience see what she looks like and remember her face, also her name is the biggest text on the advert so people can make the link between the two. As Jessie J creates pop music her target audience would be fairly mainstream, however her quirky slant on the popular genre may grab other peoples' attention too.
9 Shot Analysis- Beyonce Best Thing I Never Had on Prezi
This Prezi shows my understanding of media concepts and links appropriate theorists. I have identifed, analysed and explained techniques which are used to make this music video interesting and entertaining.
This is the lip sync that we briefly put together to get a rough idea of what it is like to lip sync in a music video. We had to learn how to lip sync in time to the music playing so that we could sync the movements in with the soundtrack. As this is only a practice it isn't perfect but it was useful to help prepare us for the main task of creating our proper music video and making it look as professional as possible.
This music video has approximately 303 different shots in it, (during the first minute and 11 seconds I counted (approximately) 101 shots so timed it by 3 to estimate the amount of shots during the full running time) and reflects the pace of the music and the style of the group. A lot of split screens are used to show close ups of all four of the girls' faces at once. There is lots of zooming in and out and lots of cut zooming to keep up with the pace of the music. Each girl has an individual personality which is portrayed by the screen behind them, this links in with David Gauntlett's ideas on identity. Although all four of the girls are pretty and have been made up to look attractive, Laura Mulvey's Gaze Theory doesn't really apply here, as Little Mix's forte is all about girl power, so their appearance is to please the female audience. Carol Vernallis concentrates on camera movement and framing, which obviously applies an awful lot in this music video. Also the diegesis of this music video fits in with the song eg. characters moving in time to the music, some frames are more important than others. These thoughts are similar to Andrew Goodwin's theory of close-ups, thought beats, star image, and relation of visuals to the song eg. the dance movents mimic the lyrics and the beat. Jason Mittell argues that industries use genre to sell products to a certain audience, and this music video is obviously aimed females who are into pop music. The conventions of this music video back up Barry Keith Grant's suggestion that genre allows audiences to identify the texts.
This is a table we filled out to show the skills we have learnt and how we will continue to use them this year. It will help us to recognise what we need to work on and where our strengths already are. It may help us to decide which member of the group does certain tasks as we would want to use our skills to the best of our advantage to make the whole process smoother, easier and overall we will have a better outcome.
This is the lip sync that we briefly put together to get a rough idea of what it is like to lip sync in a music video. We had to learn how to lip sync in time to the music playing so that we could sync the movements in with the soundtrack. As this is only a practice it isn't perfect but it was useful to help prepare us for the main task of creating our proper music video and making it look as professional as possible.
I made this picture by using PhotoShop. I did it in the style of Julian Opie. Firstly I took a photo on PhotoBooth, I then made a layer and called it 'hair' and used the magnetic lasso tool to outline my hair so that I could fill it in using the paint bucket. I added more and more different layers such as 'features' and 'skin', I did the same with each layer and drew over parts as needed eg. the highlights and nostrils. Finally I made a 'background' layer and filled the rest of the picture with orange.
I made this picture also by using PhotoShop. I used the same photo as before. Using the Rectangular Marquee tool I selected different bits I wanted filling in, starting with the outline. To do this I got the colour i wanted and then clicked on the fill bucket to fill the selected areas in.
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