Progress

So far we have completed filming of the outside entry and exit scenes, plus all of the dance footage. When Renie has time we are hoping to complete the green screening of her singing and the shots of her outside with the male actor. On Premiere Pro we have put together the shots of the entry and exit with all the of the dance footage, we then plan to drop in the outside and singing shots that are still necessary. The digi pack is well on its way with the front, back, side and inside shots all completed, just text and a few editing aspects on the image need to be completed.On the digi pack we had to choose what writing and images needed to be displayed such as the copyright logo. We also found a useful website that allows you to create your own barcode, I have included a print screen of this below.










I am now going to include some shots of Renie in action and the shots we have used
for












the digi pack. These pictures are what we are using on the digi pack and the magazine advert as they are very powerful and effective shots, showing Renie is becoming a Diva. On the digi pack we used the idea of showing her front shot for the cover, side shot for the side bar and the back of her for the back cover, this is showing all sides of her personality.

Filming

We filmed the first part of the sequence in the dance studio on Thursday, however we are unhappy with the angle of the shots so are re filming today from half 3 until 5. The weather is wet and cloudy today so this will eliminate the sunlight that shines on the dance studio floor, making the screen too light.

MTV Awards

Beyonces video for Single Ladies was said this morning on Radio 1 to have won three MTV video awards. The three are Video Of The Year, Best Choreography and Best Editing. this then shows us that Beyonce's style of music video is proving very popular and is created in a very good style. This has given us confidence in our work that the style we have chosen to produce which is similar to Beyonce's other videos will be as popular.

Audience Theory

For our project we looked at audience theory to understand the relationship between the audience and the work and how the audience receives, reads and responds to a text.

The Hypodermic Syringe Model
This theory suggests that that audience just accepts media messages which are being given to them. In relation to my coursework the meanings of the images associated with my chosen song will be mediated by the audience, whereas the song itself as music will be received more passively. There is a process of mediation between the song and the image, the choice of the image impacts upon audiences in different ways.







Uses and Gratification Model
For this theory I noticed that audiences consume texts for different reasons as in 1948 Laswell said that media texts have different functions for individuals and society. These being surveillance, correlation, entertainment and cultural transmission, however for music videos I shall be concentrating on entertainment as this is the main factor why audiences consume them. In 1974 Blulmer and Katz researched and developed the theory deciding that people choose media texts and consume them for certain reasons the two which are appropriate for music videos are diversion and personal identity. Diversion clearly is the escape from everyday life while perhaps more interestingly personal identity is relating yourself to media texts and creating learning and behaviour factors from the text. This is particularly useful for my coursework as there is a strong relationship between young people and music as it helps them associate themselves within certain social groups, for example indie and r'n'b music are followed by distinctly different audiences and social sub groups. Beyonce's music is classed as mainstream pop, therefore we were easily able to target our audience and know what they like as we did research into many similar pop videos, which have been designed to appeal to that specific audience. We were then able to design our work to appeal to that specific audience more easily.

Finding dancers

Last week we had an issue with finding dancers, as we had Sybil and Sadie, however Sybil snapped the ligaments in her ankle. Therefore we had the issue of finding a new dancer. We have asked Renie who is a boarder at our school thus meaning she is readily available, we are hoping to film on Thursday 1st October in the dance studio if all goes to plan.

Magazine adverts research

Using Mojo magazine I started to research music adverts for singles and albums, noticing that many did not use images of the star, like the album covers usually do. I noticed that most adverts included an image of some sort, the star's name, the album's name, a website address, date of release, where it can be purchased. There sometimes is a review and a picture of the album cover.

This advert for Pearl Jam's album Backspacer uses large bold writing to emphasise the band name and the album title, the same lettering is used for the release date, the website, the name of one of the singles and what it is released on, CD, LP and download. This technique means that you are drawn to read all of the writing as it is all so similar. The pictures are cartoon which adds an element of humour to the advert and the bright colours grab your attention, however the gory images show a serious side to the advert. The images are very supernatural which could provide an element of the music being 'out of this world'. Overall this advert is very appealing as it is eye catching and provides all the information needed for purchase. The HMV logo shows that the music is recognised in one of the top music stores and provides knowledge of where to purchase,


This advert is very unusual as there are no images present, except for a shadow reflection which just adds confusion. There are three colours used, pastel blue, white and purple, this sets a calm tone to the advert signifying the music is very gentle. The text is thin but large, all in capitals to grab the attention of the viewer. The unusual aspect of this advert is that it is crammed full of reviews of the music which provide information about how good it is which encourages people to buy it.





This advert is very conventional with the band shot but also is strange because the artist is not written on in bold as usual. Instead the title is Beatles for sale, implying that everyone will already know the band. The advert is in black and white with then all the album covers in colour and where you can buy in from HMV is colours too. This draws the viewers attention to the albums being sold and information is provided about the price and what date they are released.


This advert is very clever as it uses the same coloured writing as on the album covered which is also shown on the advert, this helps the audience associate the album with the advert therefore remembering it when they see it in the shops. This advert is very simple and straight to the point, informing the viewer of the band name, album title, picture of the cover, a website, the release date and what the music is released onto. Bold colours are used to grab attention such as red, white and black.



This advert uses the same colour patterns as above with the black background and the bold white and red writing. This is the most simplified advert I have so far seen with just the artists name, the album name and the release date. However two websites are given for extra information and it is said to be available to buy at amazon, therefore letting the audience know where to purchase.




From these adverts I have decided that in our advert we shall include the artists name, the single name, a website, where to purchase, a picture of the artist and possibly a review. The advert will be A4 size, which is the usual magazine size, the dimensions are 210 × 297mm.

Digi Pack

We have started to research existing digi packs with the dimensions the size of a DVD case, with Beyonce her single covers usually feature a strong image of herself, with powerful bold writing. Such as the examples shown below.

All of these covers strongly feature the stars face/body signifying strong attitude along with the bold title of the song with the artists name. Single covers usually portray what the song will be like, such as covers that are full of attitude the song will reflect this. In our digi pack cover we want to feature the star with the writing in the bottom right corner, therefore emphasising the stars persona without the writing overpowering this aspect. The stars name is usually twice the size of the song name to dramatise who produced it. All of the stars are dressed up with heavy make up and costume to reflect their beauty and how powerful they are in the industry, except for Beyonce's single Halo where she looks to have no make up just natural beauty to reflect the angelic aspect of the song name.






The case dimensions are as shown below, we then copied this image onto Photoshop and started to make our cover.














This is the start of our Digipack cover, we coloured it black, then used bold white and silver writing for emphasis. This makes the lettering stand out in impact but it is also in a feminine style of writing to show Beyonce is feminine but as well as a diva.This is why we wrote Diva in capital letters so that her attitude and personality stood out in comparison to the sweet style of her name. I have included also some pictures of possible design ideas we are considering.










This is the back of the digi pack design where Beyonce is ahead f her backing dancers showing she is presented in the limelight. The image of her walking away indicates her power and authority. We used flowing writing for her feminine name but diva is written in bold capitals to portray attitude.




We used the same lettering as before but the front of the digipack is Beyonce's face standing out from the background, showing off her beauty and attitude to the audience.






This is the single for Beyonce's song Diva, which is the song we are using for our music video. The background colour is very light, however it is a harsh light therefore portraying the image of power and authority. The lettering used is very bold and masculine, signifying strength of her Diva persona. Beyonce is dressed fully in leather with full dramatic make up and high hair. This gives her the look of sophistication but also a harsh image to prove she is a successful woman that has done well for herself. I think this is a very good single cover because it is very eye catching and also shows that the song will have a strong attitude due to how she is looking, not just the average girly song from Beyonce. From this image I have noticed a link to Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze. In the image Beyonce is wearing feminine heels which push her body forward in a sexual manner as her body has to curve in order for her to walk in the heels. I found this quote "She declares that in patriarchal society ‘pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female’ (Mulvey 1992)" http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.htmlMen receive pleasure from looking at this image due to Beyonce having such a feminine body. "Voyeuristic looking involves a controlling gaze" Beyonce is looking very beautiful in this shot and the male gaze will automatically be drawn to her body being pushed forward and the attractiveness she is giving off.



This single cover is Kelly Clarkson's song Already Gone. It is a very clever use of the star's face instead of having her with a background because we get a close up of her natural beauty with emphasised eye make up. The red lips show a sign of femininity and the crystal teardrop show that she is unhappy and the single will reflect this, possible due to the song title of a lover leaving her. The lettering used is thin and curved, showing femininity and the contrast between the lightness of her name in white, with the sadness of someone already being gone in black.



This single cover is of Ashley Tisdale's song, Masquerade. The lettering used is very bold for her name, which is unusually slanted, making a stand. The song title, is in fancy lettering which could relate to her fact that masquerade is fancy dress. Ashley has very dark eye make up but the rest of her outfit and hair is very casual this could be to signify her hiding her identity behind ht mask. The background colour has patterns on it that take your focus so that she starts to blend in which the rest of the lettering and not become so obvious because her image is behind it.

Pop Video Construction

We used Adobe Premiere Pro to construct the video and to start with we created the opening title sequence of a black screen with DIVA being typed onto the bottom right hand corner, this was made by adding the letters, followed by a line that we made to look like a cursor, because we cut gaps out of it as shown below.

We used www.flashkit.com to find a sound effect that matched the typing of Diva. The clip we found was very long, so we cut one touch type and pasted it four times into our sequence, which gave the impression of each letter being typed slowly.

Pop Video Planning

Planning

For our AS work we had to create the opening sequence and titles for a thriller movie with the target audience of fifteen, for A2 coursework we have chosen to produce a music video, its digipak and an associated magazine advertisement. Clearly we are using different media in these tasks and have identified a wider target audience for our A2 project. The film will clearly be accessed through cinema, DVDs and web streaming. The music video will also be accessed through these media forms but can additionally be seen by mp4 and dedicated music channels such as MTV.
We created a questionnaire which is shown below that asses what our target audience thinks about Beyonce's videos, what they believe should be included in the video and their individual opinions. We then handed the questionnaire out to ten people within our target audience range of 15-20. After we analysed the results into graph form we included some of the ideas into our planning, such as the use of lead in and outs and black and white effects.

Planning Questionnaire

1. How old are you?

15-17 18-20 21+

2. How high do you rate Beyonce’s videos?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3. Do you think black and white is a good effect to use?

Yes No

4. Do you think instruments being played are a necessary part of a music video?

Yes No

5. Do you think a pop video should be more than just the song, such as having an introduction and then the song?

Yes No

6. Which performance style do you prefer?

Solo Two backing dancers Two+ backing dancers

7. Do you think outfit changes are necessary?

Yes No

8. Do you think there needs to be a storyline linked to the lyrics?

Yes No

9. What should a pop video aim to achieve?

………………………………………………………………………………

10. What other effects do you think we should include in a Beyonce pop video?

………………………………………………………………………………….

From the questionnaire response we learnt that our target audience thought black and white is a good effect to use and that instruments being played are not fully necessary as they are not Beyonce's normal style. Our target audience thought that the video needs to be mo

re than just the song, with a narrative storyline, they liked outfit changes within the video. They also preferred the artist having two backing dancers, these results are portrayed in the

graphs as shown.

To give ourselves a better idea of the shots we would use, such as the shots of the performance but also the narrative shots, we created a storyboard as shown in the pictures, this has given us a closer idea of the shots to create so we can stick to an intentional plan.

In the video we are going to include a lead in to show Beyonce getting to the destination before the action and music begins, this will build the narrative and establish the location to the audience. We are also going to use a lead out to show Beyonce leaving and making the audience aware of her attitude and the Diva she really is after all the action has been completed. We chose the locations for the video, we are using an old barn which Beyonce goes to and inside is her dance studio where the sequence takes place, there are cuts to her meeting a man who has a smart truck, she seems to be mocking him with her singing whilst he looks on in admiration. The other location used is the street at the end showing her leaving the scene in a public moment. This links to Todorov's narrative theory with the stasis being Beyonce leading to the location, the disruption is when the dancing begins and she meets up with the man, followed by the completion as she walks away still with her head held high, into a new stasis.

We will be shooting in wide screen using a Panasonic GS500 digital video camera. We will use three girls in our video, one main singer (Beyonce), with two backing dancers, then there will be the young man who is in love with the main star. We have decided that the backing dancers will wear a white long top/dress with black leggings and heels. The main star will wear a selection of dresses with heels to incorporate outfit changes in response to a new location. The man will wear jeans and a smart shirt, to suggest sophistication. For props we are relying on the use of the man's truck where Beyonce sings to the man whilst leaning on the truck as though she has no care in the world what he thinks of her. We are also using a chair in the dance sequence to attract new height levels which will catch the audiences attention to what the star is doing. For the music playing, due to Beyonce not incorporating musical instruments within her videos, we decided that she would carry in a boom box radio which the song would start to play from. For make up we will be using quite dramatic eye make up to emphasise them, with bright lips and clear skin to show femininity. For the lighting aspect of mise-en-scene we will be using natural daylight for shooting outside, but inside the dance studio we will use the bright spotlights to create dance shadow effects. To ensure we are using new media technologies, we shall shoot using digital cameras, edit using the Abobe package and record all of this via blogging rather than traditional writing methods.

Pop Video Research


The pop video promotes the artist, the album and creates a star persona. I have chosen to create a video for Beyonce Knowles' song 'Diva'. This is the link to her original video...
For research I have watched many Beyonce videos, alongside Lady Gaga and Pixie Lott who have the same style and attitude towards performance. The only problem I have noticed is that many conventional pop videos, use performance and particularly music instruments as close ups to portray the actions of the band, such as Miley Cyrus . In the song 7 things, she starts singing with her support band behind her. Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Pixie Lott and Rihanna don't use instruments in their videos, instead they concentrate on main star persona such as dancing and singing. I therefore had the dilemma of deciding whether to follow traditional conventions of using musical instruments. The other idea would be follow these other artists ideas of following performance based action and narrative being more closely based on the lyrics and how the star acts rather than following a complex story. I therefore decided to focus more on a star in the video using her style and dancing skills to portray the song and identify the complexity of the lyrics instead of basing it on performance as Beyonce is a one woman artist without a band so this would not look right if I included new performers. I also looked up different effects to use, I like how Beyonce used black and white effects, as did Alesha Dixon, this gives the allusion to the audience of the past and allures them to the background to focus on what changes and gives a different texture to the filming. Text on screen is also widely used such as at the start of Lady Gaga's new song
I believe this gives the effect of providing extra information such as who the video stars therefore drawing in the audience. This is a good technique because it provides extra knowledge and gains their attention. Other ideas I gained from my research included quick cuts between the action sequence which engaged the audience and kept the pace fast to fit with the music and the lyrics. I also liked the idea of using props to incorporate the action such as bringing in a radio to start the song, or filming a picture and zooming into the action.
Whilst studying Pete Fraser's book Teaching Music Video I learnt, conventions of a music video usually include lyrics, music, genre, camerawork, editing, intertextuality, narrative and performance. There is a distinct relationship between the lyrics and the performance because many follow a storyline to draw the audience into what the star has to sing about. Music is foregrounded to work alongside the star who is videoed via many close-ups to portray how important they are. Lyrics are also used in this way to relate to the song as a whole and Genre is reflected via mise en scene, such as Beyonce being pop/r'n'b therefore she has an edgy textual reference such as using old buildings to dance in but also keeping the tempo high to engage the audience in the upbeat tempo. How the camera is used displays the meaning of the video, the camera tends to follow the performers such as dancing and walking, to keep up with the action. Close ups are used to give a feel of closeness to the star for the audience and draws attention to the sale of the artist and the voice, therefore encouraging them to buy the song but also the artist. Editing is used to increase the effects used and establish the mood such as slow motion shots and to incorporate all of the action into the video. From the book I was very interested by Steve Archer's view in Media Magazine 8, he 'has drawn attention to the need to consider the relationship between narrative and performance in music promos.' I want to include this principle in my own video because the song Beyonce sings can follow a narrative story, therefore I will include ideas to make a narrative within the video. This will give the audience a context within the song to watch. Andrew Goodwin's viewpoint in his book on the rise of MTV (1992) identifies a 'key number of features, which distinguish the music video as a form. I especially liked the point he made that 'There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals' and that 'There is a relationship between the music and visual'. This shows that the music, lyrics and visual representations need to interlink to create the perfect music video that engages all of the contexts and draws in the audience, this is my aim.

To ensure that I was allowed to use Beyonce's song, I emailed Song Music Corporation who own the copyright for her music with the following email;

15/06/09
Dear Sony Music Corporation

I am a sixth form student of OCR A-Level Media Studies. As part of our A-Level course we are making a pop video. This teaches us creative use of technology, teamwork skills and gives us the feel of working to a tight deadline.
I would like to use Beyonce Knowles’ song “Diva” as the basis for my video work. I can confirm that the work will only be used for examination purposes.
I hope that you will have no objection to this. If you do, could you please contact me at the above address as soon as possible so that I may have time to seek out an alternative song.

Always a fan,

Alice Smithson and Amelia Williams

This gave me reassurance that I could start preparations for the song without the worry that I could not use the material, therefore wasting preparation time.

I then found the lyrics for the song as to be able to start the idea creation process;
I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
Stop the track, let me state facts
I told you give me a minute and I'll be right back
Fifty million round the world
And they said that I couldn't get it
I done got so sick and filthy with Benji's, I can't spend
How you gone be talkin' shit?
You act like I just got up in it
Been the number one diva in this game for a minute
I know you read the paper
The one that they call a queen
Every radio round the world know me
'Cause that's where I be
I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
When he pull up, wanna pop my hood up
Bet he better have a six pack in the cooler
Getting money, divas getting money
If you ain't getting money then you ain't got nothing for me
Tell me somethin' where your boss at?
Where my ladies up in there that like to talk back
I wanna see ya, I'd like to meet cha
What you said, she ain't no diva
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
Since fifteen in my stilettos been struttin' in this game
What's your age? Was the question they asked when I hit the stage
I'm a diva, best believe her, you see her, she getting paid
She ain't callin' him to greet her, don't need him, her bed's made
This is a stick up, stick up
I need them bags, uh, that money
A stick up, stick up
You see them ask, where that money?
All my ladies get it up
I see you, I do the same
Take it to another level
No passengers on my plane
I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey
I'm a, I'm a, a diva
This is a stick, up stick up
I need them bags, uh, that money
Stick up, stick up
You see them ask where that money
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
Na, na, na, diva is a female version of a hustla
Of a hustla, of a, of a hustla
I'm a, a diva, I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, I'm a, I'm a, a diva
I'm a, I'm a, a diva, I'm a, I'm a, a diva, hey