Next we began working on our narrative plan and getting ready to film it. We completed the Step Outline document, where we looked at our narrative in more depth and focused on what we were trying to achieve and how we could do that. We planned out our mise en scene as a group, and looked at our message and what our narrative and our music video as a whole is trying to convey to the audience.
Here is the first draft of our music video. In this draft, I ended up using my test shoot as the beginning footage for my video. Due to uncontrollable circumstances, my group were unable to film the second performance shoot. Therefore, I ended up using the test shoot footage in this edit. Whilst the video isn’t edited or filmed exactly the way that my group originally planned, we have lots of time to continue working on it and also to film more footage for the video.
Self Assessment
I think that this draft of my video went as well as possible under the circumstances. I think that the paparazzi element works really well with the use of black and white, editing to the beat and effects added. Overall, I think that I had some really good shots from the performance shoot. We tried really hard to get some interesting angles and a variety of shots, and I think that it adds the narrative to the video and also makes it more exciting. I am quite happy with the way that the second half of the video went, and I think that there is quite a lot of work to be done on the beginning element of this edit, and once I have filmed the new footage I think that I can improve on this significantly. I also think that some of the lip sync is slightly off and I think that I can improve this in my next drat when I have more time to complete it.
Targets?
We completed the first part of our performance shoot, and it went very well. This shoot was for the end section of the video where the star begin to be built up. We had a variety of shots as the make up began top build up more, this exaggerated the idea that the star must present herself in a specific way to be accepted and valued by the audience watching her video. We managed to obtain the shots that we required for our music video. We achieved a variety of shots including: close ups, extreme close ups, mid shots and aerial shots. Overall the shoot was successful and I think that our Mise En Scene and camera techniques were all effective and worked well.
What went well?
The targets we set ourselves for our next shoot is:
Here is the Production Meeting Agenda for my group. In this shoot, we have two sections planned, the part where she is free and outside and the part where she is trapped in the studio. We discussed the additional parallel story line for our performance to go side by side with the narrative story line. This would be in reverse to the other plot. Whilst the other people are becoming free and removing the makeup and false part to their identity, the star’s make up is being more and more built up. This is to demonstrate the expectations for her as a star, and how celebrity figures are expected to present themselves in a certain way. We wanted everything to change from the start of the video to the end for the star including the location, props, lighting, costume and make up. This would help us to ensure the story line is clear of how she is going from her normal self to the built up star. We also want to build the idea of the person posing for photographs, so we want to collect these short clips of the star posing as this Instagram character demonstrating how she has to present herself to be photographed.
Before we could film our music video, we needed to take the correct safety precautions to ensure that we would all be safe when filming. We answered and signed the Risk Assessment below, this outlined anything that could potentially cause a risk to us or our model when filming, if any of these problems were to arrive then we had the ability to control the risk, if there was to be one.
TEST SHOOT PLAN:
Before beginning my test shoots, I wanted to make sure that I understood the shots that I needed. I made a list of the equipment and everything that I was going to need for my shoot. I was going to use the following section in my test shoots, the lyrics are as follows.
“You don’t have to try so hard
You don’t have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don’t have to change a single thing
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try, try, try, try
You don’t have to try
You don’t have to try
Take your makeup off
Let your hair down
Take a breath
Look into the mirror, at yourself
Don’t you like you?
Cause I like you”
What I need to bring to the shoot?
Mise En Scene?
Shots I want to get?
FOOTAGE:
Here is the footage that I got from my test shoots, which I have edited into a short sequence of how I want my music video to look when making the real thing. Overall I think that this edit worked well and I was happy with how it worked out.
EVALUATION:
Overall I was very happy with how my test shoot turned out.
What Went Well:
Even Better If:
We then started to look at the shots that were used in the genre of music that our song is from, also the shots in the artists other videos and by similar artists of the same genre. The indie pop/ country genre has conventional shots for the performance in the music videos. The performance reflects the star image, and also their beliefs. Therefore in this genre the artist is represented as very free, grounded and laid back, they are also represented to be in touch with nature demonstrating the indie pop/country genre.
Indie Pop/Country music videos usually have a mixture of varying shots in length. They are also edited to the music so you have longer, slower shots when the pace of the music is slower. As many of the songs are quite slow and have a slower beat then generally shot length times are longer. They also often feature slow motion to demonstrate the timeless feeling connected to nature. When the pace picks up slightly, normally in the chorus the pace of edit develops and gets faster with shorter shot lengths.
Below I have made a padlet, this demonstrates the types of shots used by the artist, similar artists or artists in the same genre and their purpose in the music video. I have added an example from one of the videos as to how this feature is used and the way in which it impacts on the video and the star image. I have commented on its purpose and importance in that part of the video.
It is important for me to understand the conventions of the genre, for my music video to be successful. It needs to follow the conventions of music videos from this genre so that the audience can understand and also that they do not reject it. If the video steers too far away from the conventions and what the audience expect the video to be then they can begin to reject it as it is not what they think that it should be. It needs to follow the repertoire of elements of that are conventional in the genre for example props, settings and narratives. I need to follow these so that it fits into the genre but it also needs to be slightly different and unique and steer away so that it is different and exciting for the audience to engage with.
We made a mood board and collated images, articles and posts all related to our artist Colbie Caillat. We looked at the way that she was presented in many areas such as the way she presents herself on social media, to her album covers, to interviews that she is in. We established that she is very loving and caring, this is demonstrated through images of her with children and families. We also decided that she is presented as an equal even though she has this celebrity background. She is very down to earth and ‘normal’. In all the images of her, she is not scene to be extravagantly dressed or made up, she is natural and she is herself. This backs up our idea of being your normal self, and natural. Her own confidence in herself is demonstrated through the pictures of her on the beach. There are also many articles expressing how she has changed and become this confident and happy self, but also how her music has changed. Her album covers are also very natural and not staged. The lighting is soft reflecting her soft personality.
All of these elements help to build her star image and the way that she wants to present herself to her audience and also other audiences globally. It reflects her beliefs, values and personality traits that she wants to reflect in her music and character. It also reflects the music that she is categorized as, as she must demonstrate her style and what her work is and also what it means to her. By doing this research it has helped me to understand the way that Colbie Caillat presents herself in her music video and also other medias as well. When making my music video to her song I will need to consider these elements and the way that they would work with my choice. But also I need to respect the artist and the way that she chooses to present herself and her music, as it needs to be conventional so that it suits the genre and also so that the audience do not reject it. However at the same my video does also nee to be different and unique so that it does not bore the audience, they need to be engaged and find it interesting for it to be successful. 
Before thinking about our audience to much, we first considered these questions to help us to get an understanding of our audience and what they need from the music video.
We then started to think about the demographics, psycho-graphics, likes, dislikes, values and other medias related to our target audience. We made this presentation about our ideal audience and addressed all of these features. We made a collection of images to describe our audience, and the way in which they are presented. The way an audience decodes a message relies on lots of things, for example their age, beliefs, culture, gender, generation and mood at the time of viewing. Our research helped us to answer a lot of these questions, our audience are very caring, they have strong beliefs regarding equality and believe strongly in loving who you are. The undertake activities which are beneficial both physically and mentally. There aim in life is to inspire and help others in as many ways as possible. They are mostly female and like to be presented as natural and free.
It is important that we follow Blumler and Katz theory when thinking about our audience as for our video to be successful we would need to address all the points for our video to suit our target audience. This means that we need to address the four Uses and Gratifications that an audience seek from their media, this includes:
Another important theory for us to consider when making our music video is Stuart Hall Reception Theory. This theory argues that an audience decodes what the producer encodes in a text. However, how they read the text will depend on their:
Both of these theories will be very important when considering our audience for our music video, we must consider all of these factors when we come to producing our music video for it to be successful.
Overall, in all of our research we managed to describe an audience member who our music video would be targeted to. We made sure that we understood what would be needed for the audience to decode the message behind our music video. But also what would enable them to be able to be able to engage with it and ways that we can make it successful.
We had to ask the artist for permission to use their song. It is important that before we start creating our music video to this song, that we get, or try to get, permission from the artists themselves. This is so that the artist is aware that their music is being used, even if it is for educational uses only, we must still ask.
