From this research on the band who created the song ‘Jet’ named Citizen, it has been further made known that they primarily focus on the themes of emotion which is both relatable and reassurance for the pop punk audience. How they express emotion through their lyrics, music videos and voice through the music itself is completely conventional to the pop punk genre. In addition to all of these points, even the artwork for their media helps to represent their star image.

The star image for my group’s music video will project emotion in a similar way to which Citizen do, whether this be with sadness, anger, isolation, confusion or any other conventional emotions. Our star image will will also be conventional to pop punk as our music video will specialise in the performance aspect including a band and also create meaning through acting, facial expression and an accurate stage performance. With the use of post production, my group will be able to further make a closer representation to our star image and with the use of Photoshop and InDesign, we can carry our star image off to our digipak and social media page.

This task carried the intention of exploring conventional shots for my group’s chosen genre whilst researching what denotations we can create with the types of shots we include in the task.  To do this, we used Padlet to comprise multiple conventional shots. For each shot, we used different music videos which contain multiple examples of one particular shot, with each shot being implemented with reasoning, to be analysed by the audience.

With the analysis of each different shot, I and my other group members now know what type of conventional shot to use to portray different meanings which is useful to create a storyline which our audience can decipher.

To be able to give my group a reasonable perspective of our plans to record with a realistic approach, we had a discussion with our teacher about the general plan which we came up with. 

Discussing with our teacher was necessary as it negates ignorance and provides valuable feedback that will now impact our thoughts regarding filming both the narrative and performance shoots.

Our feedback:

• Our intentions for the themes and issues of our music video are relevant to the genre and are achievable
• Although we have a sufficient amount of props and we are capable of recording the performance section, band members should not dress the same but also represent the genre
• To avoid confusion and negligence, we must make a decision on shooting locations and also think about the preparation of the shoots to be able to correctly convey the genre
• Allocate necessary props make sure we are ready to record

3 Narrative Overviews

• Narrative type – This video consists of a disjunctive narrative with hints of an amplified narrative as the animated music video does not completely correlate to the lyrics, but shares some of the same themes and values.
• Structure – The animation is presented with a linear structure showcasing the lifetime of the astronaut.
• Overview of story – The story is introduced with a child who has the aspiration of becoming an astronaut. The video shows the determination and hard work of the boy and as he grows up he is shown to be completely independent and focused on his dream rather than the people who care for him. Upon his achievement of becoming an astronaut and being sent to space, the earth along with everyone he loved had blown up sending him in a state of hysteria, presenting a theme of karma.
• Ending – With exiting visuals, the astronaut commits to a challenge to reach another living astronaut in a different space station. His extreme determination to reach this other female was destroyed as he found out it was a man sending him in another outrage but as them two were the last people living, the main character realized the importance of socializing and caring about others.

• Narrative type – This music video contains an amplified narrative which shows the themes of self reflection.
• Structure – There is a linear structure which shows the progressive stages of cross dressing and breaking down.
• Overview of story – The story shows Mac applying makeup, earrings, a wig and a dress, an ideal image of a woman, whilst singing about his obsession about a woman. This can be interpreted in different ways as the music video makes it seem as if there is an ode between a man and his feminine self. As the story progresses, Mac finds his self in a junkyard before being bombarded with surprises.
• Ending  – Mac has his makeup and costume destroyed by others during his wondering around which can illustrate discrimination towards cross dressers. The story ends up with him stripping himself naked and being packed away in a cardboard box.

• Narrative type – There is a disjunctive narrative but keeping the theme of pride and honor form the song.
• Structure – In this music video, there is a linear structure illustrating stages leading to the revenge for a woman’s dead lover
• Overview of story – The story begins with the shooting of a man in his car with his partner for unknown reasons but from the next scene, we can interpret that the drive-by was due to the man being affiliated with gangs. After the shooting, the woman becomes determined to get revenge for her lover. During the ongoing take down of the gang, new characters are introduced who were involved with the murder including the person likely to be the leader of the gang. The woman eventually kills all of the guards then kills the leader leaving her with a sense of pride whilst having sustained bad injuries.
• Ending  – After the killing of the gang leader, the woman mourns for the death of her lover and flashbacks are shown of their relationship.

3 of my own narrative ideas:

• Mental torture –  A man or woman is trapped in an empty white room with nothing but a mirror. They struggle to find their own self identity and constantly have to look at nothing or see their physical interpretation through the mirror. The story will illustrate a fluctuation of emotions of the character due to their endless suffering.
• Never ending day – Based of the story off the movie ‘Groundhog Day’ someone wakes up to live a normal day but after sleeping, they find themself to have woken up at the start of the previous day. With the freedom of having no consequences, the person takes advantage but comes to the realization that they wont be able to progress in life like an ordinary person. Instead, they will be in an endless cycle of the same day.
• Drug abuse – This story will show the use of drugs from a man’s little brother’s perspective, showcasing the physical effects and how it effects the family members. Whilst the character is high, he realises what he may look like from his brothers perspective and comes of the use of drugs.

As a group, we made sure we all know (including people outside of the group):

• Who is coming to the shoot
• What we are wearing
• When the shoot is
• Where the shoot will be
• How the equipment needed will be delivered to the shoot

By knowing these things, my group will make sure they are organised for the shoot which means we will not forget anything which is needed for a successful shoot.

From filling out this risk assessment form, my group can gain a better insight to the dangers when recording the music video. This will allow us to be more weary of any hazards and will result in a clean recording session without anyone getting hurt.

JET – CITIZEN

Why we chose this song

• It is a song that all of us like and we won’t get bored of
• The lyrics of the song have the potential to create further meaning through the use of a music video. This will allow the audience to identify the meaning and possibly relate to it creating an interaction between the media and the audience
• The song has an energetic atmosphere which we can match in the performance aspect of our music video
• It has a suitable length which shouldn’t bore the audience and it is also long enough to fit an even amount of narrative and performance
• Due to the genre of the song, we can set the narrative and performance in places with a grungy aesthetic allowing us to film in unrecognizable places in a small island

To be able to understand each other and acknowledge how to work together despite any drawbacks, my group and I have committed to an ‘on document’ agreement to make sure we know what we are supposed to do which will collectively result in an efficient process of production.

We have broken down the parts to producing a music video into several sections and assigned the person who is most likely to the best quality job on that aspect so consequently, we will be able to have a finished product which lacks flaws and has optimal quality and standard.

In order to be just and to make sure I am using the song correctly, I have made sure to contact the band, who has made the song I’m using for my music video, and asked for permission to use the song. Without consent for using the song, I may be using it illegally due to copyright laws and regulations.

For me to be able to create a music video which contains a narrative and performance and conveys an understandable story line for my audience, I collated several ideas and created a wordcloud to allow me narrow down my ideas for a music video, for a song of my choice. Because the song I chose, Smoke by THE BLSSM, does not already have an existing music video, I thought it would be ideal for me to be able to create an eccentric and distinctive narrative which gives clear connotations towards the theme of isolation within ones mental consciousness.

From creating this pitch, and analysing the potential for meaning from the lyrics, I feel as if I am confident enough to be able to do the same with the song chosen between my future group members for the actual music video. By having a deeper meaning to a music video which can be identified by the audience will create a sense of interaction between the audience and the media product therefore allowing them to relate to it and reveal a sense of identity.