Planning for recording

I have booked out the camera, tripod and lights for the weekend, we all will be recording on Saturday and if we don’t get to finish what we are doing then we might be recording again on Sunday.

The shots we are recording are:

-          At Sureya’s house- the extra footage we need and we also have some more shots that will look great.

-          Richmond Hill scene- we have not recorded this before, so this new scene might take some extra time because there is a lot to do. This is one of the performances so it needs to look perfect, also we will need a guitar for this scene.

-          We will be doing the staircase scene at my house- we already have done this scene but it was with our previous artist so now we need to do it with Sarah. This will not take as long as the other shots.

However, the difficulty will be that we need to do the house scene (different make-up) and then I will have to change the make-up and then record the Hill scene. After that I will then have to change the make-up again in order to do the staircase scene.  So it will take time, we might have to do Sunday as well.

Duresh x

Filming day 4

Location: my house (candle scene)

Today went really went, we managed to get everything that we wanted. The candles scene was perfect and nothing went wrong which was great. The shots we recorded were amazing and we managed to get some extra footage that could also be used throughout the music video.

I had a great idea during the recording and that was that we could start the music video when the artist walks in the house, she leans against the door and we have a pause. This is where we as the viewers get to see all the different locations. For example, we see the artist in the candle scene, the Richmond Hill scene, the fan scene, the bedroom scene. The viewers get to see all the different locations and the artist is not singing so it would be an extreme close-up.

The second scene was also perfect, the fan scene, we managed to record the close-ups we needed and some extras. However, I do feel we need some more shots of that but we will find out when I’ll be editing, if we do need more of that then Sarah and Becky will re-shot that scene while I edit.

Duresh x

Logo designs!

Sarah has designed the logos and here there are:

I like the following:

-          Some Weatz and MTF under Your Skin- the reason I like these is because of the swirl at the start of the ‘T’ and then the font is normal. The little swirl at the start gives the logo a texture and it seems realistic, also I would prefer it if it was tilted slightly on the album cover. Another reason I like this is because this is the type of logo that might be used in actual. For example, Rihanna’s signature is also like this:

-          Jellyka- the reason I like this is because it looks like the artist wrote it herself.

-          Universal College- this looks like the artist did it herself and it also shows that she is young because the design looks very college like.

-          Speedy- the reason I like this so much is because it’s very artistic and very entertaining.

Duresh x

Filming day 3

Location: Sureya’s house (main scenes)

Our first day of recording with Sarah was great! J We managed to record everything; however, as Becky (our camera woman) wasn’t there it made things a little difficult because I have to record. In my point of view, we have recorded everything, but there are some shots that Sarah and Becky wanted to do, which I couldn’t. So we will be recording again at Sureya’s house.  

I managed to do all the main shots in the bathroom and it works very will but Becky wants to do it again because she had a great idea for a shot.

The bedroom scene, we missed out some of the scene because we thought it didn’t work well but Becky might be able to do them. Also, we came up with some extra shots that we think will work well. Also this was the first time we recorded with Sarah so the make-up didn’t go that well, Sarah looked really orange so we will be doing this again (make-up is also important!)

As for the kitchen scene- we could do more but we ran out of time so we will be going there again to record with Becky.

Duresh x

WHOO! New artist

YES!!! J We have found a new artist! The name Tia suits very well with Sarah and her image is exactly how we want and it fits the artist image. Therefore, SARAH is our new artist who will be taking over Yvette’s scenes.

I do understand that there is a lot to record. However, I and Sarah had thought that it is not necessary to use a male artist in our music video; we just need to show that there is some there who Tia misses.  So we have decided to take away the extra footage and not use the drama studio shot as will it take up extra time and it’s pointless.

Also we will be recording Sureya’s house on Sunday as it will get all the important parts done and we won’t need to worry about anything. As for the candle scene we will need to record it some other day. As our artist is changed now to Sarah, we will be able to record everyday for the next week before we break up for the holidays.

Duresh x

PANIC!

I and Sarah have decided that we need a new artist; I do understand that this is a short notice and there is a lot to do, however, this is the only option. NEW ARTIST! At the last stage! AHHHHHHHHHH!!! L
I have called most of our friends, who we think will fit the artist but none of them are willing to do it. PANIC ATTACK!  L

Duresh x

PROBLEM!

The same day we were recording, we found out that Yvette is ill and there is no other day to record because she is busy. All our recording will not be done before Christmas and we will fall behind and this will cut into our editing time and we will not be able to finish on time! AHHHHHHHHHH!!! 

Also we are not allowed to use my uncle’s house as no one is at home! We will need to record at my house and will have to put mats underneath the black cloth to prevent anything to get out of hands. We will also have buckets of water on the sides, just in case. 

Duresh x

Planning for recording day

I have a great idea for the recording day, as we have less time left for the recording deadline to finish and we haven’t done much due to our artist’s schedule. As Yvette is busy most of the days and we only have that one day to record, we will try our best to record everything that day. If not that day then when I will be uploading the shots and starting to edit, Sarah and Becky could go and re-shot some of the shot and get some extra footage.

On Sunday, we will go to my uncle’s house to record the candles scene as they have wooden floor boarding and there is less risk of catching things on fire. After we have recording the candles scene we will record the fan scene. Around 3.30 we will go to Sureya’s house to record all the important shots to complete the recording.

Duresh x

Great idea!!!

Few days before the recording I had a great idea and that is:

As in most music videos such as, ‘rose coloured glasses’ we usually see the artist in the centre and their hair are flying back with the use of fans. Therefore, I thought that we could use something like that which would make the music video even more interesting and entertaining and it would engage the viewers even more.  We would have the artist standing against the wall with a black dress and we will use a fan to make her hair and dress fly. This could be used as the performance part a sit looks every good with this type of song.

Duresh x

Planning for recording day

I have very excited for our recording day on Sunday in Sureya’s house because it is one of our main shots and it’s our main location. We need to record:

·         The artist in the bathroom- looking at all the products of the male artist and missing him. We would have extreme close-ups of the products, toothbrushes and the towels. We will use those because we want the viewer to experience the same emotions as the artist. The only way to show this would be through the types of shots we use and the emotions and expressions on the artist’s face.

·         The second part is the bedroom scene- this is one of the main scenes because we the moment when the artist breaks down. The artist will be on the bed and look toward the place where her partner was before (will do an sky view shot) we will also have a moment when she tries on her partners jumper and we might have her breaking down at that point because it will engage the viewers even more.

·         The third scene will be in the kitchen- we will have a close-up of dead roses this has connotations of the ended relationship which the artist is trying to drag on. The dead roses also show that no one has been home for a while and I thought we could try to show that the roses were given to her by her partner.

Another idea we cam up with was that we could use some tea candles in every scene as a theme to the music video. As we are planning to use tea candles for an entire scene near the end. I and Sarah decided that we could put an unlit tea candle in every shot to give clues for the end. 

Duresh x

Sarah’s idea

Sarah had a great idea about having the artist sit in the centre on the room and have her surrounded by tea light candles. As we are recording in a house, there is a problem that we might end up making the video look more like a TV show. Therefore we need to have some ‘glamour’ shots like this to make the music video even more interesting. Sarah’s idea is great and I would like to expand it by saying that we should have the artist sitting on a black sheet of cloth. Then have the candles around her with no lights on so that it would create some extra affects. I also thought that the artist could be wearing a black dress which would look great with the whole theme.

Duresh x

Filming day 2

This was very productive because we managed to record everything we wanted to record, the shots were perfect. We came up with some extra shots along the way which really helped us to make the video lively. As a group we, tried our best to use as many close-ups as possible as it is a music video.

The location was my house, where we just used the staircase to have our artist playing the guitar for the entire song and we would use cut-away shots along the music video.

Duresh x

Filming day 1

We had a great time filming with Yvette and Charlie for the couple’s scene in the park. We managed to get all the shots we needed, however, if was difficult to get the close-ups we needed, e.g. any kisses scenes. This was awkward because we didn’t know how to show the connection between the couple.

Duresh x

Mood board

This is my personal mood board that I have worked on, as the one on our group blog is not working properly. 

duresh x

Make-up design

I have also completed the make-up design, it took me a lot of time to consider how our artist will look so in the end I came up with this:

These two are the main designs that I am going for, They are simple but it will bring out artists features and also most music videos have a lot of make-up used to transform the artist. I strongly feel our artist should have this simple look for when she enters the house becuase there may be points where she will cry and I wanted to have a close-up of the tears running down her face. This could be used as a cut away.

The middle left hand side, this is what I am going for during the performance. Afterall, the performance of the artist is the main thing and that is what sells the artist the most. The bottom left hand side is the lipstick I want to use. This will attract the male viewers- voyeorism.

Here are some of the hairstyles that I could use on the artist....

Duresh x

Costume design

I have completed the costume design and I have done this so it revolves around our artist. Also, I have put up some suggestions of what our artist could look like.

Here are the designs:

This is the boys costume design, I do know that we don't really need to do the boys costume design but I feel if we are going to make this a perfect music video then I need to focus on everything that will be shown in front of the camera.

Here is the girl's costume design, I did have to spend a lot of time thinking about what she has to wear because I don't want to go 'over the top' with her outfits because she will be at a house so it does have to be a little realistic. However, most music videos are 'over the top' because teh viewer feel out of place and that engages them even more. I have chosen some designs that are fit to be used in a house and also I have chosen some 'over the top' outfits that could be used at the performance. Now all I ahve to do is make sure our artist has most of the things underneath.

Duresh x 

So far as a group!

We have found a new artist so we can now start our recording and this makes things easier because our main problem was based on finding an artist. 


I have created the costume and make-up designs and I have made a recording plan which we will stick to, if we could. I have also researched some music videos that have influenced us for our video.

Sarah has researched some more music videos that have influenced us and she is doing a great job at creating the artist logo. She is also working on the questionnaire for the audience and she has done the lyrics analysis.

Becky is working very hard to finish off the storyboard on time for the recording.

As a group, we have created the mood board, the ideas for the pitch, artist’s name. also me and Sarah  have recorded a discussion we had about our problems and progress so far.

Duresh x

Our idea in depth

I think Sarah did a great job of coming up with the concept for this songs, she has thought of main idea of her returning home. As a group, we have developed them further and have created this overall idea.

At first, we tired to link the lyrics and the visuals which were fine because we thought about what the word has connotations of.
Here is our idea in depth, what we will be doing and what is our idea for each line.

Duresh x

Videos that influence us- Adele 'Make You Feel My Love

•  This music video contains the artist being in one location and we like this because it focuses on the emotive side of the song. We, as a group have decided that we will also we recording in a house, however, we do want to change the location slightly so our artist will be moving around the house- going to different rooms. We will do this because it sets the sense that the house is empty without the male artist and the female artist can feel the loneliness through his things being there. We have also decided that we will be going to Richmond Hill to record the performance side of the song.

·         Another idea that influenced us from this music video is that the artist wear’s her boyfriend’s jumper. I like this idea very much because it shows that the artist is feeling lonely and she is missing him. Also the lyric of our song is ‘I’m still here’- this suggests that the female artist is waiting for him to come back. She wants things to go back to normal and we can examine this through the lyrics of the song.

·         Also idea that I like is when the artist is near the window and the music video ends on an extreme close-up of her face this clearly states her facial expressions on her face.

Duresh x

Video that influenced me- Bruno Mars 'It Will Rain'

• This music video had influenced me a lot as well, when it cuts from the moments the artist has spent with his girlfriend to the performance would work very well with our music video a well. The cuts ot those moments emphasis the emotiveness of the song and this is what we are trying to do.
• Another idea that really influenced me is when the scene of twilight was played by the projector. This could also work extremely well with our music video, if we record moments the couple have spent together.

Duresh x

Videos that influenced us- Cheryl Cole 'The Flood'

- This music video really interested me, there were lots of parts that I liked and I strongly think we could use them in our music video but differently off course. The first idea I like was when the artist is sitting near the window and looking outside, this creates the sense that she is lost in her own thoughts. I think we will use this idea but we should end with her sitting near the window because it suggests that she is still thinking about him and is waiting for him and this is what our song is mainly about.

-  The second idea that I enjoyed was when the artist is in bed and she is thinking about her partner who she is missing. I think this could also work well with our music video because the artist is moving around the house and everything there reminds her of her partner who used to be there. This bed scene could really work if she lays there and turns to the place where he was meant to be but he isn't there anymore.

From watching these music videos we have to make a note to ourselves: TO INCLUDE LOTS OF CUT-AWAYS AND CHANGE LOCATIONS 


Duresh x

Record Company Research

Sony Music Entertainment (SME) is the second largest global recorded music company and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America. The record corporation first was founded in 1929 then later it was established as SME. The company is located in New York and the operating income is $469 million. Under the name of Sony Music Entertainment, there are other music labels such as, Epic Records, RCA label group and many more. 
Sony Music Entertainment is a worldwide music company with a roster that includes both local artists and international superstars. 
Sony Music Entertainment has created different convergence in which audiences can get their music. Music is unlimited on the following products; Android mobile phones, Blu-Ray disc players and on any computer. SME has thought of every way to distribute their music across to people. 


Duresh x

Change of Song!!!

Now we have changed our song to: ‘I’m still here’- Cady Groves. We worked as a group to come up with the ideas (ON THE MAIN GROUP BLOG- media13b1.blogspot.com). Everyone agrees with this idea and we thing it would work better than our first one.

This song will not have any problems because we only need 2 people to record this.

Our idea:

·         The girl comes to an empty house where her and her boyfriend used to live.

·         She puts the keys on the table

·         Cuts to her playing guitar

·         Pictures on the wall of the couple

·         Drinking coffee and looking outside the window

·         The main performance is done in Richmond park hill at night (her playing guitar)

Duresh

Problems we faced...

Our idea was very difficult in terms of recording, we needed:

·         About 15-20 people for the house party- this was a problem because this could disturb the residents around the house. Also the matter of getting the people is someone’s house could create lots of problems.  E.g. cleaning up after them

·         We had a shot which involved the group to go outside the house for recording- we could face the same problem with the residents having a problem.

·         More than one camera- problem because there are other people who are recording at the same time as us and there are not enough resources for us to record.

·         Also the whole process of us outing up the lights outside on the street which is difficult.

·         Main problem is coming up with dance steps for the song.

·         Also the whole concept seemed a little child-like so we had to change it.

Duresh x

Idea-part 2

As a group, we expanded on our first idea and decided we will have a house party and have more than one camera so we can record the scene in different angles. That would have worked because we decided we could use some of the shots as cut-away (as all music videos contain a lot cut away).

We also decided that we will record scenes in London for some extra footage that could also be used as cut-away. As the song upbeat, we wanted to make out music video upbeat too. As a group, we decided that we would record as much footage as possible for the editing later.

Duresh x

Our first idea for our main task

For our main task, our main idea was to do the song ‘Put Your Hands Up’ by Alex Root who is an unknown artist. Here are our ideas for that particular song:

·         Starts with the girl in her room, singing on her bed.

·         Gets out the house and two of her friends join her (we have dance steps for the up beat music)

·         Different location: - Central London, Home (bedroom scene), outside the house (high street), Richmond park.

We also decided that we were going to these songs to pick out scenes and shots that inspire us to do ours:

·         With your love

·         Boys and Girls

·         Girl’s just wana have fun. Etc…

Duresh x

Music Video Directors: David Fincher

These are some of the top directors worth knowing about;

·         Jake (Wynn) and Jim (Canty)

·         Tim Pope

·         Lindy Heymann

·         Hype Williams

·         John Landis

·         Ben Unwin

·         Michael Gondry

·         Spike Jonze

·         Janas Akerland

·         David Fincher

David Fincher (David Andrew Leo Fincher) was born in August 28, 1962 in Denver, Colorado.  Fincher is known for his dark and stylish thrillers such as, Seven (1995), The Game (1997), Panic Room (2002) and many more.
       

·         Inspired by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Fincher began making movies at age eight with an 8 mm camera.

·         After this, Fincher’s career kicked off to a great start.

Duresh x

Timeline of music video history

Duresh x

Textual Analysis of Rose Coloured Glasses

The Music Video I am analysing is Rose Coloured Glasses by Kelly Rowland (2010) and it is was written by Ester Dean and Lukasz Gottwald. The genre of the music video is electropop and R&B; this is reflected through the music at the start (the electro style music) and the changing background colours. The beat of the music also suggests that the music video belongs to an electropop genre.

There is a small link between the lyrics and the visuals but not much, for example, the line ‘everybody is saying that we should get back together’ then we visually see the couple arguing, also the lyrics of the song are emotive so the viewers see the emotions in the artist. Most of the lyrics amplify the visuals and this is shown through the performance of the artist and as for the narration, it is limited. At the part ‘rose coloured glasses’ we as viewers see some aspect of nature, for example, at first we see the artist holding a white bird then we see butterflies surrounding her which also have the connotations of peace. The video ends with a tear running down the artist’s cheek which also goes with the emotive side of the song. The music video shows some parts of the narrations (only when the couple are arguing) but mostly there is performance just by the artist and her facial expressions are strongly shown through the lyrics. Therefore, there are some aspects where the lyrics match the visuals but mainly the visuals are there to sell the artist by showing her emotive side.

There is a huge link between the music and the visuals which is shown at the start, there is slow music which also flows with the performance of the artist, and we see the artist in a neutral mode. Also at the start where the couple are arguing, lyric line: ‘meant to be together’, the music is on the beat to the lyric and the cuts are done just on the beat. This looks extremely effective and also it is another way of shortening the argument between the couple. At the start there is a solo instrument being played (the bass drums) which is on the beat to the lyrics. As the music gets upbeat the performance of the artist starts and it gradually tones down with the flow of the music. For example, half way through the video the music is upbeat so there is performance and as the music changes, the performance is narrowed down to a limit.

As part of the Goodwin theory, it is said ‘music videos mainly contain close-ups to sell and objectify the artist’. Rose coloured glasses is one of those music videos that goes against the theory to attract viewers, this music video has contradicted some of the Goodwin theories to differ from the rest of the videos. In this video, there are mostly mid-shots of the artist (as shown in the example) in Kelly Rowland’s previous music videos, there are few close-ups for example, ‘Commander ft. David Guette’. In this music video, the artist is being sold by her facial expressions, the number of costume changes and mainly by the track itself. Also, to this music video there is a narrative which is not shown in the video itself but the narrative is illustrated through the lyrics- this is a strong point in which this track could be sold by. Kelly Rowland is being shown as a break broken young girl who introduces this song that expresses her feelings, this song brings out the emotive side of Kelly Rowland. This is a different aspect of the artist because most of her other music videos are upbeat and show some sense of sexual display of the artist. Whereas this music video, it is extremely different to ‘Commander ft. David Guette’, ‘Motivation ft. Lil Wayne’. This music video just represents a change to the artist’s image.

This music video is different to the previous ones because this video does not show sexual display of the artist or any other person who is presented. The camera just focuses on the artist and there are no dance routines which suggest that the artist is on display. However, some of the costumes used do display some aspects of sexual gaze. Another aspect which suggests sexual display is when the artist is in the rain (as shown in the image). This music video is narrative-based as well as performance-based; the narrative is there at all times but the performance is extremely different to the narrative.

Duresh x

How star image is represented in media?

As a group, we did a presentation on how a star's image is presented in the media and how it changes over time due to situation. We chose to do Rihanna as our star image and this is our presentation on her.

Duresh x

Red Riding Hood- 1st storyboard

As part of our practice of storyboarding for music videos, in a group we did a little task which involved us making a storyborad for the story 'Little Red Riding Hood'. This is our main storyboard before we excluded some half of the images to make a shorted one. This task will enable us to understand that Narrative is not important in a music video. Music videos are extreme and unusual which attract the viewers. 

Our narrative to the story so far is: - little red riding hood get invited to her granny's fansy dress house party
- the wolf is looking at her in the car (with bunnies who are in his band and he is the main singer)
- we see some performance from the wolf
- red riding hood is on her way to granny's house
- the wolf gets there before her
- the granny is dressed up as a wolf, let's the wolf in thinking he is one of the guests
- the wolf locks the granny up
- red riding hood comes up, doesn't know the wolf is there instead of granny
- the wolf doesn't want to eat her but sings to her
- red riding hood rejects him and goes off with someone else...

Duresh x

Appling Goodwin's and Mulvey's theory to voyeurism in music videos.

Voyeurism has been used in music videos feom the past to sale an artist to wider audience; this is also another way of creating an artist's new image-theough sexually temptations from the opposite sex. Due to voyeurism of artists theories have been created by Andrew Goodwin Laura Mulvey, their theories explain voyeurism and how it may affect an artist and how it helps them to grow as an artist.

Andrew Goodwin’s theory outlines many key features in relation with a music video but voyeurism play a major part for females in music videos. Goodwin argues that female performers are often being objectified in music videos, the camerawork and editing is done to fragment the body shots and to emphasise a sexualised treatment of the star. For example, Beyonce ‘Crazy right now in love’, Kelis ‘Milkshake’ etc... Goodwin also outlines that in male performances, male bodies are also objectified however, females are only used as dancers as adornments flattering the male star ego. An example of this is by 50 cent ‘Candy shop’. Nicki Minaj ‘Super bass’ and Trey songs ‘Neighbours know my name’ is one of those songs that objectify both female and male performers. There are extreme close-ups used to sale the artist such as, (Super bass) close-ups of the mans lips and the low angled tilt shots to the show the figure of the artist are all there to sale Nicki Minaj and the song. As for Trey songs, this particular music video contains many extreme close-ups of the artist with a female performer “making out scenes”. 

Laura Mulvey’s theories outline the male gaze; this belief is when music videos are created for male viewers and for their sexual temptations. Mulvey argues that it is a male controlling gaze that always objectifies female performers and that women learn to be looked at. There are many examples that illustrate this theory such as, trey songs. However there is also a second view to this theory which is that the male body can also be a female gaze objectification. For example Lady Gaga and Madonna who are equally and powerful independents who have added to the complexity of the gaze of being at once sexually apparently in control.

Overall, music videos contain some aspects on voyeurism which objectify either a male performer or a female performer but the visual is so strong, so emotive and in flow with the song that it attracts the viewers. Voyeurism has been applied efficiently to most music video to objectify and sale the artist to a wider audience. Voyeurism is just another way of marketing the song and the artist’s image and Voyeurism will be used in further music video as an extreme level to get an exclusive new image for a new artist.

Duresh x