Organisation

With only 2 weeks to go till the video, I felt it best to organise a meeting between the group :

This will help us to see where we are at with the dance, learning the lyrics and costume. It will also give us a chance to tell the artists what to expect on shoot day and what to bring. It is important to have this meeting to sort out any last minute problems that we might have before the shoot, before it is potentially too late. 

Animatic for Storyboard

This is the Animatic for our music video (Animatic: Animated storyboard put together with editing). We cut the animatic using Adobe Premiere in hope to achieve a close outline of what our music video will be like. 

The animatic helped us to understand what was missing from our music video and to also see how the video will potentially look all together. Personally, I felt that there were not enough of a range of shots and there needed to be more variety of the artist. We then decided to also potentially put the artist in front of the blinders on the day of the music video. On the real shoot, there will be far more wide shots and far more interesting perspectives of the dance, but this was hard to visualise as the dance has not been finalised yet. 

Feedback: 

• A technique to think about when it comes to shoot day/editing is letter boxing. When doing so we have been advised to record percentages of how much the screen is covered to make sure it is the same for the shots to follow. It keeps the professionalism of the video. 
• If we use letter boxing - there needs to be progression. It can't just appear in one part of the music video.
• We need to ensure that there is constant strobe throughout the video. Even if it is in small elements, otherwise it will look out of place. 

Social Media for Our Artist

To help promote Løva's 'Star image' and raise awareness of her, I made social media accounts to show what she had been doing that day and to make her simultaneously present and absent, linking to Richard Dyer's theory. I also made a Yahoo account to give fans a way to contact her. She most likely wouldn't have the time to reply or even read any of them but a reply every now and then would make her fans feel connected to her.
To start, I made an Instagram account where Løva can give details about her debut album and accompany this information with images taken on set, making her audience feel closer to her as they are aware of where she is and what she is doing. 

I then made a twitter account for Løva so that she can tell her audience how she is feeling or what is happening in her life, again making it seem to the audience that they know her really well.

On the right you can see that I made an Instagram account for our production company 'Beezy' as we can make links between the collaboration with Løva.

Over the course of the project, I regularly posted tweets for Løva to show that she is active and to keep her audience engaged.

To help increase the believability of her accounts, I followed well established artists or artists similar to Løva to make it seem as if she knows them or has worked with them before.

Despite not being able to get Løva's accounts 'official', she did gain some followers from the general public in a matter of days which proves that audiences are constantly looking for new interesting artists so that they can claim to be their 'number 1 fan' and can feel as if they have a more personal connection to the artist than anyone else.

Meeting with set designers

We had a meeting with the set designers to decide on whether our sets were appropriate and could be made.

The light corridor:
This had positive feedback. We decided to use LED strips and build them into the wall so that they would not stick out and look unprofessional. We chose to use these lights as we can have different colours and we can change the light speed and direction. This is helpful as it gives us more to work with on the day. We looked at whether the lights might be too heavy to build into the wall, but we came to the conclusion that it can be worked around.

The blinders:
This is the section for the dance. This was one of the easier ones as it was relatively easy to make as all it required was a large space with blinders. 

The DJ set:
This was the complex one. We wanted to have the DJ desk as a 360 degree mixing desk on perspex so that we could shine light through it and it would bounce off. However, the set designers said that it was hard for the perspex to hold up the mixing desks, and for the set to be big enough for 360 and for the light to properly bounce off. We came to the conclusion that we could have a 180 perspex mixing desk that would look as though it was 360 as it would only be half perspex and then half table. 

Shadow set: 
This was easy as we just wanted to bounce light off curtains to hit the artist's face in a shadow like manner. This was simplistic as all that was needed was black curtains and lights. 

Website inspiration

This is a perfect example of what we want our website homepage to potentially look like. We like the shadow capturing at certain angles as it is similar to what we have in our music video. It is important to remember to have correlations between the artist in the video and how they are portrayed in the website. However, there is the possibility that it might come across as slightly boring, which is not the image we want to give to our artist. 

This is a polar opposite example to the previous one. This is very animated and vibrant which we like as it makes the artist stand out. I also like the idea of having the cartoon drawing of the artist as it kind of proposes mystery. As well as this, I like the moving boarders at the side as it again attracts the audience as it is almost impossible to ignore. 

This is a third example of the website homepage we might potentially use. The black and white scheme is similar to our video which is important as we want to keep certain themes the same. I also like the abstract artwork as well as the artist as it stands out. 

In all the websites I have seen which are similar to our artist's image, they all seem to have recurring website layouts. 

Almost all of them seem to have a section that focuses on their videos. These often are their most popular ones or most recent so they can promote further.

They also all seem to have a section that focuses on merchandising. This is again so they can promote it and make more money. 

They also seem to all promote their social networking. In this particular example, AlunaGeorge is promoting Instagram. 

There is always a section focused on tour dates and links to where someone can buy them or Share them. 

Lastly, there will almost always be a promotion of their latest album or of their music. 

CD Cover Research

We have looked into different album covers which have a similar look to what we are going for. Above is a a photo of Sia and because she is standing facing her back to the audience it kind of brings a type of mysterious and closed off element to it. If we were going to go for a similar type of look, we would be able to have our artist be in the dark but she would look back and the Album Cover name or the artists name would play on the top or would be embedded around her. 

Below is Azealia Banks album cover and this could potentially be a possibility of the the actual image of the cover. Although, we would pick a different type of font as it doesn't fit with our artists image. 

Above is a very particular album cover which closes off the audience from direct contact with the artist. This could be a potential idea for our artist, as our music video is harsh and dark. 

Here are a couple more ideas:

Copyright

To ensure that we are allowed to use the song and publicise it on social media formats like YouTube, we emailed Universal Music to gain copyright on the song.

Who is our Target Audience?

Lova's target audience would fall under the category of being 16-25 year old females and males, this is because her music opens up and can relate to some problems that people could have that age and it lets them get away. Most of this generation would like her music due to the fact that it has a club like aspect to it and allows people to immerse themselves in that type of atmosphere. My group and I have discussed and feel that the video focuses on the aspect of the male gaze because she is being sexualized in the video as well as has a beautifying look that appeals for female audiences. This could be used for both genders as females might want to aspire to look like her. 

Who our artist is

In our song, we will have two artists, one being a DJ and one being the singer. The main artist will be the DJ as stereotypically it is the DJ who writes the music and then has a featuring artist on their song. However, the video will mainly be focused on the singer as opposed to the DJ because of the lyrics. 

The image we want for our DJ :

We want our DJ to seem as though he is very experienced with what he is doing. As our set will be a 360 degree mixing desk, we need the artist to uphold the image that he is very talented. The image of the artist will be similar to Jamie XX and DJ EZ. They will uphold the image of being cool, edgy and confident. For this particular artist, their target audience will be aimed towards around 15-25. This is both because of the music as well as their image as it aims towards this particular age group. 

We want our singer to have quite a few elements to her. We want her to have sex appeal and seduction to fit with the intensity of the song. As well as this, we also want there to be a lot of confidence as the lyrics in the song have very dark meaning that need to be shown through the performance. Lastly, we want her to have an element of darkness. This is to give the artist an edge. The target audience for this artist will probably be between the ages of 15-25 as well. This is because of the look as well as the talent. 

Finalised Cast List

Genny is going to be the main artist for our music video. She will be doing the lip syncs. We have chosen Genny as we feel she has the confidence, look and image that we want our artist to have.

We have chosen David Heal to be one of our dancers. This is because he is in dance company and will be able to pull off the intensity of the dance. We also think he will work well with the other dancer, Megan.

We have chosen Megan Mackay to be the other dancer. This again is because she is in dance company and we think she will be able to pull off the pace of the dance and the confidence.

Heath Ostrer is going to be our DJ. This is because he professionally DJ's which means that the performance will be more convincing. As well as this, he also has the look that we are trying to convey.

Audition Test Shoot

Here, we auditioned Maddy Bowyer, Fleur Webber and Genny Lewis to try and find who would best suit our artist. 

We ended up choosing Genny Lewis to be our artist as we felt she had the most confidence and was best suited to the voice and the vibe of the song. 

Our Concept

After having problems with our concept, we felt it was important to sit down and come up with a concrete concept. Our track was an intense drum and bass remix by Baaeur of a Disclosure song called You & Me. With this in mind, it will be important that the intensity will be displayed through our song. This could be done through intense dances and club-like lighting. As well as this, we also studied the lyrics. After doing so, we picked up ideas of entrapment and isolation through a love struggle. As the song was quite personal, and the intensity of the beats represented this, I felt it was important to show this through our conceptual choices. Our choice of sets will demonstrate this. For example, the light corridor trapped the artist as it was a confined space. The lighting, in the corridor, changed throughout the song to correlate with the intensity of the music. During the slower bits, the artist was lit with beauty lighting, however in the intense bits it was strobing; to uphold the club-like atmosphere. The beauty lighting would be important to keep throughout the video as we want to sell our artist mainly on looks, instead of talent. It also would help to emphasise that she was the main selling point in the video which would be important as we are going to ensure that the DJ will feature less than her and be less charismatic. The DJ is also important for fulfilling our concept as we will use him as a reflection of this club-like set up. Finally, to ensure that the love story will be shown through the video, we will have a dance that will reflect the lyrics. The story of the song will be reflected through the dance, therefore meaning the concept of love will be displayed. 

New and Improved Timeline

  

Time	Lyrics	Screen
0:00	Home is where the heart is, and I gave it to you in a paper bag	Medium shot of artist under spotlight. Everything else black. Light capturing in strange ways.
0:06	Even though it's tarnished You told me it's the best you ever had, You got my...	Close up on artist. Same set as prior.
0:13	secret combination And I don't be giving that out easily, With my...	Wide shot of two dancers walking closer to each other in front of blinders
0:20	deep dedication You can tell that you were brought the same for me	Medium close up of artist under light. Artist moving neck and hands in a provocative way, then looks back at camera.
0:27	*Music build up*	Wide shot of dancers performing whilst blinders start to flash to beat.
	*Music build up*	Medium shot of DJ mixing on perspex strobe box. Camera track down to level with mixing desk.
0:39	So please don’t	Close up on artist’s lips under spotlight.
0:40	Let go, cause you know	Wide shot of dancers in front of white screen performing dance.
0:44	exactly what we’ve found	Close up of DJ mixing.
0:46	So please don't let go, my darling	Wide shot of artist in light beam corridor performing towards the camera and camera follows back.
0:50	you keep me hooked up underground	Close up of artist where light is bouncing onto her.
0:53	ground (repeats)	Letterbox between wide shot of dancers and close up on artist’s lips. Dancers in the middle and artist split on the outside.
1:00	Gonna be you	Letterbox moves so that only dancers can be seen performing.
1:06	In you’re big house on the hills	Long shot of artist in light beam corridor, camera slowly zooming in
1:09	Where(repeats)	editing used to make artist look as though there is a malfunction.
1:10	you keep your dollar bills	Camera still zooming in to artist comes to a stop.
1:13	And you stashed my heart somewhere in the dark	Wide shot/Close ups of dancers performing dance. Moving from slow motion to normal pace.
1:17	Keep it safe I know you will	Medium shot of Dj mixing. Camera moves consistently took keep the beat.
1:20	know you will, know you will	Camera following artist in light beam corridor. Artist is looking over her shoulder and walking away.
1:25	I know you will...meant to be	Medium shot of dancers in front of blinders.
1:30	*Music*	Editing done in such a way it cuts to black on every 5th beat. Cuts between dancers and extreme close ups of artist in spotlight set and DJ mixing.
1:43	Rolling with the punches So they won't get inside our happiness	Medium close up of artist under light.
1:48	uh (repeats)	Cut looking like a malfunction between artist and black smoke filling cube.
1:49	Love is always hunted But you're white rose is soaring through my tear	Birds eye view of DJ mixing.
1:54	Cause you know you give me something Yeah you give me exactly what I need	Wide shot of artist in light corridor. Lights are flickering more.
2:01	Got my blood pumping  You know you always draw more blood, I bleed	Intense shots of dancers.
2:07	*Music build up*	Close up shot of artist under light and strobe starts to appear.
2:13	*Music build up*	Close up to wide shot of DJ Mixing. Mixing is becoming more intense
2:19	So please don’t let go, cause you know	Wide/close up shots of dancers
2:23	exactly what we found	Close up of dancers doing something intimate.
2:25	So please don't let go, my darling	Medium close up of artist in light corridor.
	You keep me hooked up underground	Medium shot of DJ Mixing. Camera follows his movements.
2:32	ground (repeats)	Letterbox between medium shot of dancers and medium shot on DJ. DJ in the middle. Dancers on outside.
2:38	Gonna be you	Letterbox moves so that only dancers can be seen performing. Strobe lights start to increase.
2:45	*Music*	Cuts to shot every 3 beats otherwise black screen. Moves between close up of artist, DJ going crazy and dancers.
2:58	you and me	close up under spotlight of artist.
3:01	gonna be everything you ever dreamed	Medium shot of artist in light corridor
3:04	gonna be you and me	Canted angle downwards on deck and DJ. DJ looks like he is closing the song off.
3:08	gonna be everything and everything we’re meant to be	Wide shot of dancers in front of blinders together and blinders turn off screen turns off. End.