Props And Costumes List

The charts below demonstrate the aspects that need to be included in the Music Video, mainly the costumes and props, knowing who is in charge of bringing theses items to the set when filming, allowing everyone equal responsibility in the group. We have taken many factors in consideration when creating these lists including the weather, therefore coats and umbrella have been written into the list if the weather is a problem on the day of filming. We have chosen clothing that is predominately black/white and grey, due to the latest teen trends. The white is mainly to allow the audience to see the powder paint on the clothing, making a more visible picture and noticeable, instant effect in the image. To conclude, the costume and props list was created in order to allocate who exactly will bring what on the day, sharing the responsibility among the group. 

Costume And Props Research

Production Schedule

The table indicates exactly when and where we will be filming, including the actors, props, costumes and equipment needed throughout the whole process. This is the plan that we shall follow throughout filming the music video.  

Storyboards

The images at hand, demonstrate the storyboards which been split and divided into post it notes for each shot. Each post it note, displays what will happen in each shot, the length of each shot, the angle of the shot and editing transition that will take place within the music video of that specific shot. Despite, lack of drawings the writing fully describes what shall happen in a brief note form. being short and straight forward to stop any type of confusion. The use of post it notes allows us room to adjust where and when we need, adding or cutting elements out which may become something which we are unable to film for some reason or a shot does not fit within the final ideas we later pursue. When we are filming, we feel that we will try to capture more than one take or various points of view of  shots, giving us the opportunity to find exactly the perfect composition, constructing a well-pieced and polished outcome that fits with the lyrical value rather than what we think, forcing something that doesn't fit well or create the perfect fit to our music video. Overall, we are looking forward to filming, as well as, editing concluding to a final outcome, creating and placing our own stamp on the music video. 

Location Research

Lip Sync Practise

When editing the music over the lips we found it quite hard to match the lyrics to the motion of her lips. When we filming the footage we decided to play the song out loud, this way Natasha is  lip synced perfectly with the song, knowing the lyrics and singing along rather than from memory. In the video, we have used two different locations, seeing the visual differences and what can affect the quality of a video, including elements like lighting. In the video, Natasha actually sang out loud making a more convincing movement and motions being formed on her lips, this also matched more naturally against the lyrics and pace of the song. It was best to use Natasha as she will feature in the music video that we create, giving her chance to practice in front of camera and become very comfortable, this way she will be ready to perform in the actual video when it comes to filming. This technique of her singing along and out loud will defiantly be used when filming, implying a natural feel, syncing with the lyrics perfectly. This will also allow control and synchronise perfectly, adding a convincing look. The use of dancing in the video from Natasha is typical of our band 'Fifth Harmony' incorporating the dancing just increases and heightening the mood and feeling the portray as a band, the dancing adds movement and actually makes the video fun, full of life and character. The dancing shows a part of her personality, the fact the genre is Pop, meaning that movement and dancing is often used, therefore the dancing is very relevant. We found it hard to sync exactly to the lyrics, we found that her lip movements cut too quick before the end of the lyric, instead of elongating the length of the lyrics. She was cutting too quick, which is not obvious at first but when played again and again over time can easily be seen. As the song progressed, Natasha became more confident with her dancing becoming more involved to the track. The fact that she knew the lyrics better also helped with her confidence. In moments, where the lyrics are forgotten it becomes obvious through her facial expressions, making the audience aware and conscious of the fact she has made a mistake. When we perform the real music video we need to ensure that the artists know the song off by heart, this way they will not mess up, and make it seem as if they are singing the song. With nerves it's clear to see that this is what is also causing her to be very shy, but as she is exposed to the camera more she is far more confident and using the camera to her advantage. Overall, in the real music video we will take time for the artists to learn the lyrics, become confident in front of the camera, with trials and practises. We will also take time when filming, and rerecording if necessary to achieve the right length and motion of each lyric sung in the entirety of the song.

Initial Ideas

Through the use of Goodwin's theory we want to include a range of elements across all sections of his theory. In the first part, we wanted to connect the lyrics to the notion of visual effects, for this pastel colours will be used, with each of the characters in the video having a personal colour that represents them including blue, pink and purple. They are still feminine colours that distinguish friendship love and commitment to friends, rather than intimate love between a couple. We are also including other physical references like use of a typewriter in the opening scene, using different and traditional forms of typography to display a modern music video. The use of movements is also used with Morgan, as someone will be standing behind her and be pretending to touch her, matching the lyrics of "touching on my body like you know me", referring to the idea of her being hugged and loved like a friend, with sexual motions or actions to refer to anything different to this idea.

Across the second boundary of his work, we really wanted to address and define pop in its true form, with the use of dancing to really add movement and dance to the mix, being energetic, really showing the idea of youth. Dancing is also very common in a music video and especially a Pop music video, applying the stereotypical conventions of pop. Colour is also a significant idea of the music video, and to pop. Incorporating, a theme and representation of each personality throughout. Each of the colours that have been chosen shows a positive contribution to the friendship group/band. With blue, pink and purple adding friendship, romance and loyalty to each other. Often in Pop music videos, they refer to drugs of alcohol experimentation, but we want ours to be very young teen friendly, addressing the age of our target audience, but solely showing friendships and the positive influences that they inflict on each other.

Inter- textual ideas focus across mainly the editing forms with Zara Larsson's, lush life video being the main contribution of different visual editing techniques, as well as, Bebe Rexha, 'No Broken Hearts'. Including colour overlays, and pop art bursts. We also want each characters to have a unique personality that is only referred to them in the group, like the Spice girls, even though the 90's band they are all still known as an individual name, like posh spice or sport spice, based on their characteristics as a person. From the original video, that which is the song we are using we are taking the studio idea and including the form into our video, linking and showing a freeze frame of what is present in the original video, this way showing them as our inspiration and creating what can be perceived as an extension beyond the ideas they interpret in their music video.

Each representation of the characters is very similar, gaining inspiration from each other in clothing and hairstyle what female teenagers conventionally do in friendship groups, with black showing a professional side and colours interpreting a free and girly feel to the video. The hair styles will be natural and styled in a subtle way, caring about their appearance but showing natural beauty. Their make-up will be the same, matching the same quality and idea of the way the hair is styled. Each of them even though they have different likes and interests will still be confident and energetic, each bouncing off each other in different ways. Bring out the best in each other as friends are supposed to do.

Finally, the true meaning behind the music video is a integration of narrative and performance, a bond in friendship which will be shown in a physical form through colour, the powder paint involving the vibe of each actress and their personality on a physical level, throwing the colours at each other like throwing their opinions and personalities to the world, exposing themselves on an emotional level, really being who they are in front of their friends. They are being honest to the world like they are to each other. To conclude, we want to create a fun and serious scenario, implying life to be great with friends and the support they show in every aspect, when times are challenging and when times are at their best, the true meaning of friendship.

Institutional Research

             

Questionnaire Results And Feedback

Within the stages of research, we needed to really know and address exactly what the target audience want. We decided to create and contract a questionnaire asking questions which are specific to our genre and the stereotypes of teenage girls. However, we also wanted to see what a male audience would perceive in music videos, expanding our audience further. The questions asked relate heavily to our genre and the idea of Music videos, looking at what are key characteristics and elements that they want in their music video. The image below is the questions that we created and formed based on what exactly we wanted to know and what we wanted to target in the music video. The questions we asked varied in type, with open and closed questions, gaining general and personal responses. We handed the questionnaire to 20 people, ranging in ages and gender, grasping a handful of comments in the process.

After collecting the results, I created a chart that combined the results as a whole, looking and collaborating what exactly and specifically our target audience want in a music video. This table I feel that was essential, for questions in which were very open and personal to each individual answering the questionnaire. From this table I applied the closed questions in a excel format, which I then used to create various charts/graphs, analysing the feedback in a professional and simple format. 

Question 1.

Question 2.

Question 3.

Question 4. 

Question 5. 

Question 6. 

Question 6 resulted in various thoughts from each person, with their own opinions important in the question. However, reoccurring songs like Ed Sheeran's- Don't and Taylor Swift in the process. The songs that were chosen show to be either current chart songs or traditional songs by big artists like Micheal Jackson. Many of the songs shows a music video that features the artist, with some having unique videos. like Thriller, showing a zombie dance sequence. However, most of the modern videos are very basic with simple story lines that can be easily achieved with any budget.

Question 7.

The videos in which they disliked consisted of annoying songs that were repetitive and very boring. Therefore, we need to create something that is new and fresh to the music scene. Many of the tracks above are by one hit wonder artists like Rebecca Black with Friday. After a while, the songs above are annoying. Overall, these artist don't demonstrate the song or the artist in which we have chosen as our final choice.

Question 8.

Many people responded with many effects being key, having exciting story lines  and elements that catch the audiences attention. They also want something where the music and video sit well as one. Overall, the elements above will tried to be applied to our music video.  

Question 9.

Question 10. 

Conclusion:

In conclusion, are main target audience is females between the age of 14 and 20 years of age,  the effect will range in the video but mainly target full colour with elements of black and white added to the mix and vintage looks, adding a element of class elegance in the video relating to our band and what specifically the target audience want. The first question addressed our target audience based on their gender, as we are targeting a female audience, it’s important we target them directly. Being biased, in order to achieve the best results. However, the fact the there is a small number of males, means we could also target them in a indirect way, widening our target audience further.  Following on from this: Question 2 looked at what age each person is, with putting categories we could see who actually fits in the target age range what our music video is targeting. The largest age range success is 16-17 years of age, however, those who were over 18 years of age also showed success, meaning that these age brackets are what we need to target. Even though, none of the people asked fell into the 14-15 age category, the idea of the music video will target them more so. The idea of video is friendship, eligible for all of the above ages, targeting 14-15 even though they were not any asked in the questionnaire. This way we will be expanding our target audience beyond what is expected. 

Within the third question, we found that Pop and R'n'B were the popular choices, with choices like jazz and country being less popular choices, which was what was expected based on the stereotypes of the age brackets asked. The fact that pop was the popular choice, working well against our band and genre as they are very Pop related. The song itself also is in the Pop genre. The fact we chose something that was pop, generically known to have a high reputation in the field of music. Overall, Pop was a popular chosen choice, and fits perfectly to the song chosen. From the results, the audience preferred solo artists compared to bands, showing no surprise considering the artists who are on the current pop market, like Rihanna, Drake and Adele to name a few. Bands however, where the second choice, therefore, bands are considered but on a second basis. Overall, this means that we need to create something that will stand out and make bands a more popular choice.

The most chosen amount of time for watching music videos, was 0-1 hours, very little time, but a fair amount considering those with a busy lifestyle. However, the 2-3 and 4-5 hours came very close with both gaining 20% of vote by the voting parties. But, over six hours was the second favourite choice, meaning that they either really take time watching music videos or they are far to busy to spend time watching music videos. Our music video needs to be something that applies to both, something that will be re-watched again and again over a long period of time. Question 9, revealed the effects that would be most preferred in a music video, the results showed the classic effects were preferred, something that the audience know and are comfortable with, full colours for them is key, making the image quality perfect and easy to see. Although, the video we will use this as well as, pushing the boundaries with colour overlays and various effects to boost the adventure in the video and create something fun rather than something just bland. Finally, question 10, demonstrated whether a story line or a live performance was what attracts them to a music video, we found that a story line is much preferred and something to watch stimulates the audience more than just looking at a a live performance, interacting with them beyond just something that is hear. Overall, the video will include these aspects, as well as, other elements that we want to add based on what we found in stereotypes of pop and our target audience. 

Andrew Goodwin- Music Theory