Interscope Records:

Interscope Records – Who would produce and distribute your artist

Weather Update:

When deciding the days that we wanted to film our scenes for our music video, that being, the dance scene which occurs near to Wembly Stadium and the couples scene which takes places outside the fountains at Wembly Arena, we decided that we wanted to do a weather update to check what the 5 day forecast was going to be for the week ahead. Enabling us to be aware of whether or not the weather was going to hold out for us and allow us to have brilliant sunshine or do the opposite and pour down with rain. This way we had a good idea of what days would be practical for us to do our outside shoots. Located below is the BBC's 5 day forecast showing the weather updates for the week ahead.

Location Scouting for Music Video:

On the 15^th October 2011, Khushel and I decided that we would pay a visit to Wembley Stadium/Arena and around Burnt Oak for possible locations where we could film our music video. Whilst there, we found a few potential locations that could be incorporated into our performance scenes nicely. When visiting Burnt Oak we were searching for potential streets and main roads where we could film our tracking shots of the main protagonist as she strides down the road singing. Luckily we came across an extremely pretty street which we believe can fit into our video very well. What is more, is that not only is it a pretty and fairly quiet street to film on, it also consists of a very flat and smooth pathway which is a bonus for us as the dolly and camera should be able to track the singer perfectly without any hiccups. Here are the pictures we took of the pathway.

Another potential location we found where we could track the artist singing is at Wembley Stadium. The actually location in the stadium where we decided we could track the singer, is at a slope area which is located at the front of the stadium due to the fact that the surface of the pathway is also smooth and flat and would create a nice, clean shot of the artist as we track her singing and staring into the camera.

For our choreographed dance scene we realised that we needed an area to film in that wouldn’t consist of two many people from the public so that we could film the scene quickly and efficiently without being disturbed. One place that we found where this could be made possible is the large pathway leading towards Wembley Stadium as it is exceptionally quite and deserted if there are no events or shows taking place at the stadium. Additionally, it is a very pretty location and provides you with the opportunity of filming the scene from many different angles as you can film from the bridge above the pathway which looks down upon on the dancers or you can merely filming the scene in front of them.

We also took a picture of the steps leading down from Wembley Stadium as we explained that as another possible location you could film a part of the dance scene on the stairs as the dancers walk down the steps in line with one another. However, a downside of using this location is that because it is the exit from the station this could get very packed and busy, stopping us from filming a scene here. If we decided to do film a dance scene on the stairway we would have to make sure we filmed it on a day that the station was closed, like yesterday so that the steps would be out of bounds.

Another location that we decided would be a beautiful setting for our music video is the outside of Wembley Arena where the fountains are located as it is such a striking and mesmerising area. We thought long and hard about which scene could be filmed here and we realised that a scene that is incorporated into the later verses of the song, that is, the scene whereby the boyfriend and girlfriend come together to say goodbye to each other and end their relationship before going off in their separate ways would be the most perfect scene to film here, for the reason that, the upset and pain from the breakdown of their relationship would go in contrast with the beautiful setting of the fountains. It would be a peaceful, tranquil location to film in and in my opinion would set the scene perfectly.

Lastly, Khushel and I decided that we wanted to film a scene which panned and showed off London at nigh time from a bird’s eye view or aerial shot to set the entire setting and showing audiences the overall location where the video is being filmed. We realised that unfortunately we don’t have the appropriate equipment to film a bird’s eye view shot of London, so we have to come to the conclusion that we are going to pay a visit to the London Eye at night time and film this shot when we reach the top of it in order to capture the scene properly and perfectly so that we can incorporate this into the beginning and possibly the middle of our music video.

Audience Questionnaire and Answers, Including Audience Research Video:

Situated below is our target audience questionnaire asking people aged between 13-29+ what there favourite music genre is, what appeals to them most about this genre and how they consume their music and so on. By creating an audience questionnaire, we are hoping that the answers that we collect from this will help and enable us to identify what areas we need to consider when creating our music video so that the video will appeal and please our target audience.

The questionnaire is going to be distibuted out to people who currently attend our sixth form, including pupils and tutors. We will also distribute the questionnaire out to family members whose ages fit our target audience criteria. Once we have collected the results we will then create a pie chart to see how people differentiated in their answers so that we can make a distinction between the audiences likes and dislikes related to their favourite music genre.
Audience Questionnaire

Here is our music video questionnaire results that we collected and analysed in order for us to gain a better understanding into how different people differentiated in their answers so that we could see what people liked about their music genre and what appealed to them most about it. Additionally, by analysing our respondents results this helped us to understand what areas we need to work on and what we need to include in our own music video so that we can engage and attract our target audiences attention.

Music video questionnaire results

View more presentations from yasminamey

Here is our audience research video, whereby we questioned teachers and students in our sixth form on what their favourite genre of music is and what appeals to them most in a music video!!

Representation in Music Videos:

For our music video "Hate This Part Right Here," both Khushel and I have decided to have one main protagonist who is going to be the singer and lead dancer in the performance and narrative. However, when observing and watching already made music videos, it becomes noticeable that woman are usually depicted into two very different and unappealing choices, the first being the innocent, girl next door stereotype who is seen as the most appealing choice in videos, for example 'Taylor Swift' in her video "Mine."



Whilst the second role model is depicted as the promiscuous, raunchy and seductive woman who often exploits and takes advantage of their sexuality in order to over power their partner in videos and what’s more draw in their target audiences, for example Rihanna in her video "S&M."



Additionally, in music videos that are created in today’s climate, the genres that fit the characteristic of R&B, Hip Hop and Rap, are often known for how they represent woman through the lyrics and main footage in their videos. Women are portrayed in a negative light - as sexual objects by dressing semi-naked and wearing minimal clothing as they move and dance in a circular motion around the artist seductively, flaunting their body to their audiences. This scene is a cliché convention which has been re-used over and over again to exploit woman’s sexuality in music videos and can be seen in Mohombi ft Nelly's video "Miss Me."



We have decided as a pair that we don’t want to be another group that exploits woman in music videos in order to draw in our audiences. We want to be able to take hold of audience’s attention by the talent and aptitude of the artist. We want the artist to feel as though their fans and audiences know them for who they are as a respectable and highly regarded singer and not for the exploitation of their sexuality and being known as “the hot one.” What is more, is that we want our protagonist and artist to be portrayed as someone who is well thought-of and decent and if anything an artist that encourages teenage girls and young adults to imitate and respect their idols. For instance Jordin Sparks in her video "Battlefield."

Special Effect Emails:

As part of my research, I decided to email producer Ray Kay and director of photography Anders Flatland who helped to produce and edit Cheryl Cole's "Fight For This Love" music video, due to the fact that I am fascinated in finding out how they created the special effects for the scenes where Cheryl appears against a textbook backdrop with doodles and lyrics printed and moving around the scene as this is something that I would like to experiment with and perhaps incorporate into my own music video. Below is a print screen of the email I sent to Mr Ray Kay.


The email I sent to Mr Ray Kay - producer of "Fight For This Love"



Along with the full email that I sent to Mr Anders Flatland.

Dear Sir,

My name is Yasmin Amey and I am currently an A2 Media Studies student at Park High Sixth Form. I am currently working towards filming my own music video as part of my media coursework and I am interested in using similar special effects that were created for Cheryl Cole's "Fight For This Love" video, that is, when Cheryl Cole appears against a textbook backdrop with doodles and lyrics from her song.
I have tried to create these effects on 'Final Cut Express Pro' but have found difficulty in doing this. I was wandering whether you could inform me as to how i could create these effects or provide me with the details of the person who created the special effects for Miss Coles video.

I would appreciate any information you can provide me with.

Many Thanks,

Miss Yasmin Amey

Sadly, I did not recieve a reply from either Mr Ray Kay or Mr Anders Flatland, so I never did find out how they created the special effects that they used for Chery Coles 'Fight For This Love' video.

Possible Costume Ideas:

Costumes: on Prezi

The behind the scenes of Pixie Lott and Alexis Jordan showing how to film dance sequences:

As part of my research into music videos I decided to look into how producers and directors film choreographed dance scenes using different camera equipments, different shots and how they use lighting to make sure that the scene is perfect and filmed correctly for the artist and her dancers.

The two videos that I came across whilst researching on the internet was the behind the scenes of Pixie Lott’s 2011 single “All About Tonight” and Alexis Jordan’s 2011 single “Hush Hush.” Each of these videos were a real eye opener for me as not only was I given an insight into how directors prepare to film a dance sequence, making sure that it comes across in the best possible way, they also focused how they create and set up the set decorations for each scene of the shoot. Additionally, they took us behind the scenes of the make-up and wardrobe showing audiences what they do to prepare for the shoot.

The scenes that I found fascinating throughout the entire music video was when the artist took us behind the scenes of her dance rehearsals for the choreographed dance scene that she is preparing to perform in her official music video. What is also great is then being able to see the transition from practising the sequence to actually performing the dance, made up and dressed on set with the directors, producers and dancers as this is the moment when everything comes together and everything that the artist and choreographer have worked hard towards is finally becoming a reality.

Digipak Research:

I have decided to analyse each of these digipack albums for the reason that I am hoping to gain ideas when creating and commencing my own design for my artists digipack album covers. Below are the three digipack albums I found on the internet that represent the genre of music that our artist fits into, that is, R&B. The artists we chose, "Beyonce, Christina Aguilera and Rihanna" are all R&B artists, so by researching and looking into their digipack albums we realised that this would help us a lot when wanting to design our digipack album so that it would fit accordingly into the R&B genre.

Beyonce's Digipak

Christina Aguilera Digipak

 Rihanna Digipak

Although I like this particular format for the digipack album, both Khushel and I have decided to create a DVD digipak as we both prefer this type of format as the CD format looks like it is too squashed down and it can be quite difficult to read the text.

I have also attached my first inital idea drawings that I sketched out as a possible digipack for my artists album cover. When designing this digipack I took notes from the digipacks showcased above when creating my own one. One of the things I noticed with the albums above is that in each of them there was always a photograph of the artist posing in somesort and this was usually inputted onto one of the inside panels, so I sketched out an image of the artist holding a microphone and posing to the camera in order for her to promote herself on the album. The inital ideas of my digipack are depicted below.

Whole of Digipack:

Front Cover of Digipack

First Inside Panel of Digipack

CD for Album (Second Panel of Digipack)

Back Cover of Digipack

 

Moodboard of Genre and Wordle of Initial Ideas with The Pitch - "Hate This Part Right Here" - The Pussycat Dolls and Feedback:

Displayed above is my moodboard which illustrates the genre characteristic "Pop/Electropop" and in particular RnB. I decided to create this moodboard in order to show audiences how dynamic, pulsating and energetic the colours, fashion, album art and music video is in relation to this genre. Not only have I selected album covers and music accessories, I have also decided to focus on fashion, which clearly plays a major role in the music industry as you have to constantly look your best. In countries such as America and the United Kingdom there is a huge RnB and pop fashion scene, where clothing is all about tight clothing i.e leggings, jeans, tops and short dresses as well as wearing killer heels. All of which is worn to express the artists individuality and personality.

Here I have created a wordle of camera shots, angles, editing techniques and media terminlogy all of which will be used throughout my music video and analysis of my research and initial ideas.

Here is the pitch I have created presenting my inital ideas for my music video "Hate This Part Right Here."

"Hate This Part Right Here" Pitch on Prezi

The Pussycat Dolls

Feedback:

• Think closely about what costumes the singer and dancers are going to be wearing throughout the video.
• How are the dance scenes going to be filmed? Think about maybe using a contrast between close ups/mid shots/long shots.
• Another thing my class suggested to me is that both myself and Khushel thought about tracking the singer walking down the street and we were told to think about two things: one being that tracking someone walking down the street may be difficult considering the fact that streets are uneven and could make the footage bumpy so maybe try to work around this by attaching a camera to a stick or broom to see whether this would make any difference. The second being that filming on the street will  include passers walking by and will be exceedingly busy so maybe think about a location a bit more secluded.

Director: Michel Gondry

Michel Gondry - Famous Music Video Director: on Prezi

Star Makeover

Transformation of Shreyaa to 'Ramona Bitch' on Prezi

Green Screen Practise.

Both myself and Khushel decided that we wanted to get to grips with some of the equipment that we were unable to use in AS level Media Studies, such as, a green screen. As part of our music video research and inital ideas we decided to learn how to use this piece of high tech equipment, including how to set it up, making sure the lighting hit it appropriately and then learning how to import the footage onto 'Final Cut Express' where we removed the colour and chose a New York City backdrop at night; to show audiences how a green screen special effect can be achieved.

The Style Evolution of Rihanna:

Rihanna:

Robyn Rihanna Fenty, better known as the Barbadian RnB recording artist ‘Rihanna’ was born on the 20^th February 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados. Rihanna decided to move to the United States when she was just sixteen years of age in order for her to pursue a recording career. Shortly after her move to the US she auditioned with Jay-Z’s record label ‘Def Jams Recordings’ which she passed and signed a contract with.

Rihanna is now a celebrity who sets the trend and leads the fashion scene via the many styles she has had over her years an RnB artist. Throughout her career Rihanna has gone through three major style transformations so far: the sun kissed island beauty, the dark rock n roll chick and the most recent red-haired bombshell.

Sun Kissed Island Beauty look.

Dark Rock and Roll Chick

Red-Haired Bombshell.



Rihanna’s first single was named ‘Pon de replay’ which came from her first album ‘Music of the Sun’ where she showed off her island moves and similar clothing to this genre. Her clothing included bright, colourful tops and crop tops, trainers, boyfriend jeans which all resembled that of a bubbly, lively teenage girl. Her iconography during this time was her natural beauty and showing off her Barbadian background to her audiences.



At 0:31 in 'Umbrella'



Upon the release of her most famous and most popular single ‘Umbrella’ which came from her next album ‘Good Girl Gone bad’ Rihanna’s iconography completely transformed and shocked audiences across the globe as she unleashed herself as a new artist with a more risk taking style. She started to wear edgier, rock chick clothing which consisted of outfits such as leather, studs and even a risky new black cropped haircut. The once bubbly island girl had suddenly grown up and become a girl who now appeared to have way more style and was someone who was perhaps seen as a girl who was rebellious and mischievous. Rihanna explained to her audiences that her decision to change her style was merely because she felt that the genre characteristic of her album’s continued to change so it was only right that she would change her iconography alongside her music album. For me, the video that displays Rihanna’s more edgy, rebellious look is in her hit single ‘Umbrella’ where she opts to wear leather, biker jackets and dark clothing in order to portray herself in a new light.

While Rihanna’s style was originally darkened before, it began to morph into that of a trendy artist as began to wear eccentric outfits such as her Michael Jackson denim jacket which she matched with a with a white bandage leotard during one of her performances. She also decided to change the colour and style of her hair again by dying it blonde and cutting the sides of it in order to compliment her fashion edginess.

With the release of her newest album ‘Loud’ Rihanna has also appeared with a brand new look which has brought on the bright red hair and her more feminine style. With the release of her new album she has began to perform more power ballads which audiences had never seen on her previous albums, these being: ‘Californian Dream Bed’ and ‘Man Down.’  Recently she has started to wear clothing such as floral prints, colourful accessories that are exactly what is expected during this summer and winter seasons. She has also started to wear longer, prettier dresses, some of which have been coloured deep red to match her hair colour.

 

It has become noticeable that she has slowly started to transform her fashion image back to the bodycon look from when she first appeared onto the music scene a few years back.

Her new and current image is outgoing and eccentric yet still resembles that of a cute, good girl. Rihanna has taken sections from her previous styles and incorporated each of these into her new transformation enabling her to look more expressive and frivolous. Her newest look seems to be the best yet and reflects what a happy, successful artist Rihanna is.

In many of Rihanna's music video she showcases herself as being confident, sassy, cheeky and often a bit promiscuous. Rihanna isn’t afraid to show off who she is an artist and is never scared to act edgier and different. She likes to keep her fans talking about her. For instance, in Rihanna’s video “Don’t stop the music,” she comes across extremely confident and depicts herself as having a lot of fun as she dances along to her song with her friends in a club scene which is depicted here.

Additionally, she portrays herself as also being a bit flirty and promiscuous when she is seen lying down on top of a table whilst flaunting her body to the camera attempting to engage her audience.

She then goes on to sit upright still facing the camera whilst singing straight into it whilst reaching out her arms towards the camera, using a hand gesture which suggests that she is asking people to come towards her.

Evidently, Rihanna gives off a seductive look in these scenes emphasising her sexuality.  Her image is being used to address her target audience and to draw them in. Again, her seductive look also appeals to her audience (Male Gaze.)

 In another of Rihanna’s videos “Rude Boy,” critics claimed that this video projects a dominant female image that is exactly what is needed for this video. Clearly, Rihanna presents herself confidently in this video as she is seen dancing alone and is depicted sitting on top of both a stuff lion and zebra, perhaps illustrating her authority which is shown here.

Furthermore, lyrically the song is quite promiscuous and a bit shocking as she sings, “come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up, come here rude boy, boy, is you big enough…” which she matches with promiscuous scenes in her video. For example, in one shot she is seen bending over in a pair of hot pants against her male friend/potential boyfriend and in another shot she is depicted opening up the males trousers looking down as she sings “is you big enough,’ clearly leaving little to the imagination about what she is looking down at.

Overall, Rihanna is a successful artist who continues to suprise her fans via the many different ways that she portrays herself throughout her music videos. Whilst, some of her videos may portray her as confident and sassy, and others a little promiscuous we still continue to support and love her and look forward to her next video releases.

Myspace Research on JLS:

As part of my myspace research, I decided to look into JLS and explore the music page to find out the band branded and positioned themselves and how their music genre was made obvious through the design of their page layout. I was also interested in investigating what music, videos and comments they posted on their profile.

What content do you find?

While browsing through JLS’s myspace music page I came across a comment posted broadcasting the name and details of their new single “She Makes Me Wana” and giving directions to the link that they can download their new single at, that is, iTunes.

Additionally, the band also have a links box at the top of their profile page providing their fans with links to their other websites such as their official facebook, twitter and flickr pages.

Similar to most music pages, JLS have a photograph of themselves along with their statement JLS signature which is often branded and displayed on their music albums/singles and on their other merchandise.

What evidence of branding and positioning can you find?

Whilst browsing through their myspace page I came across quite a few things that had been posted by the band to show evidence of them trying to brand themselves. For example, the band has an area on their music page depicting the dates and locations that the band are going to be on tour or appearing at events. However, the band has posted a comment explaining to their fans that at the moment there are no upcoming shows or events.

Furthermore, the band have a small section on their music page which allows their fans to listen to their songs, albums and playlists by selecting one of the following links. It also lists the amount of times the song has been listened to and viewed. In addition, JLS have also imported their new single “She Makes Me Wanna” official music video and the CD cover for it.

Is the music genre of the artist made obvious through the design?

Although it can be quite hard to depict the music genre of the artist or band through the design of their myspace music page; I believe that JLS have managed to illustrate this exceedingly well, due to the fact that whilst the genre of their music is ‘Electro/Powerpop’ - if you look at the colours the band have decided to use for the layout of their profile they have decided to use bright neon colours such as pinks, greens, yellows and oranges which begins to create that electro/pop vibe; successfully portraying the music genre of the artist through the colours and contrast of their profile design.