Costumes

When I got to this stage of my planning and research, I decided to move away from having a male actor in the music video. I thought of other creative ways to filmmaking my music video more abstract and not a cliche story.

MAKE-UP PRACTICE

As I enjoy apply make-up to friends, I believe I will be able to create realism to my character and my music video.

This make-up is the make-up I will be using for the scenes which my main talent - Jodee Evens - will be acting in streets and in the bedroom when waking up. The dark under eyes were created in this sequence below                                                                                                                

Begin with simple make-up (foundation and mascara) 

                                                    

With this thick eye shadow pencil I then draw across my top eye lids and corners of my eye                                                                                      

                                                  

From the eyeshadow pencil to make the eyes stand out more, I applied this grey eye shadow powder on my top eye lid.

                                                   

After creating a darker look to the top of my eye lids, I wanted to look very drained and tired, so i also applied the eyeshadow power to beneath my eyes to create "bags" 

I Then smudged the eye shadow so I would have no harsh lines making my make-up not look realistic. 

This Look will hopefully create realsim to my music video and I feel that this make-up look for tired eyes looks effective from my final outcome to the image above.  

Dark Eyes/Scary make-up 

This dark eye look will be used in close ups when Jodee will be acting in the studio. These dark smokey eye make-up was created in this sequence below.

From the tired make-up look(above this sequence of images) I used the eyeshadow pencil again but all the way around my eyes to make them stand out. 

When I had finished going around my eyes with the eyeshadow pencil, I used the eye shadow powder again on my eye lids, however I went higher up to my eyebrow to create depth.

I  Then went on to use the eye shadow powder, however I used a small blusher brush and began to develop dark tones in the dips of my face as seen below. 

       

When I had completed using the eye shadow on the dips of my face, I got a dark lipstick and put it on my lips, I then smudged it as during my video, I want my main talent to smudge her make-up as I feel this would be a creative close-up to shoot. 

Final outcome 

I believe with a black and white effect when I come to edit my music video, this make-up will look creative and scary which will allow my music video to look professional.

Costumes

These costumes were planned out in the prezi file at the top of this post. I have used a white t-shit throughout my music video as this allows me to have continuity in my music video and allows the fact my main talent is "good" in the end to be represented through as she hides her innocence behind the leather jacket. 

Cast list

Cast/Crew List

• Main Character - Jodee Evens playing my "Addicted" drug user
• Singer of the band - Jamie Cording used for close ups on his mouth whilst lip syncing the lyrics to the song
• Lighting Technician - Katie Smith will help me with lighting in difficult scenes where I will be focusing on cinematography whilst needing the lighting to change. 

Here is an email I sent out to prove that I have ask permission from my friends to play these important roles in my music video. By doing this I will now be able to plan when and where I will be doing certain shootings. 

Jodee

Jodee helped me out with my AS media work last year and I can count on her as she didn't let me down when I wanted to do a shoot for my magazine. She is confident around the camera as she studies photography and will carryout anything I throw at her. Jodee is also a brilliant dance student which will make filming and directing easy when filming my "effects of drugs" scenes in the studio having to act like she is fighting free from some rope. Jodee will be a great aset to my film crew and will help me complete my music video and stick to deadlines as she is also a media student. 

Jamie 

Jamie is a photography student and will be confident around the camera. He is a media student and in my class which will allow my to film in my lesson time which will help me complete my music video quickly as I wont have to film on an evening. 

Katie 

Katie is a media and photography student and will help me greatly with lighting and a second opinion on my framing and composition. I like to ask people for their opinions when I do a shoot in my photography lessons which I can apply to my filming forA2 media studies. 

Story Board and Anamatic

This is my story board



Elle Thresh's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow


This is my anamatic

at the end of my music video I wanted a flashback of the video itself like this music video below

Editing Ideas

For my music video I really want to experiment with different techniques to try and make my work look as professional as possible. 

I would like to have an effect like this image below which I have created on photoshop. I wish to have a scene which is a mirrored image like this example. This image was taken in the studio which is the location of my scenes which I want to create this effect. I created this by using low lighting and a white back drop. When I come to filming this I will need to think about negative space to one side of the image so some aspects dont overlap. By overlap, you are able to see how there is no space between the mirrored image of my subject as the black dress is blended together.
However, as I want to create an abstract artistic aspect to my video, overlapping may be a good element to my video. 

I know I will be able to create this effect as I have looked on Final Cut Pro software and looked up the effects I am able to use. (Picture shown below) 

In the section to the left of the screen shot, there is a box named "Mirror" surrounded in a grey outline.

This is the effect I will be using on this software to create the effect of a dark look in the studio, like my photograph above.

This music video below is very abstract and I love it. I would really like my music video to be abstract like this. 

Representation in Media

Representation is the connotations of sound, cinematography, mise-en-scene and editing; the way we present a hidden message that being obvious or in need of decoding. 

Theorists of representation

• Levi Strauss (1958)
• Laura Mulvey (1975)  
• Richard Dyer (1983)
• Tim O'Sullivan et al (1998)
• John Berger (1972)
• Paul Willis (1990)
• Julian McDougall (2009)
• Tessa Perkins (1979)

Levi Strauss - Binary Opposites

Levi's theory was Binary Opposites. The contrast between good and bad, he believed that we don't understand words by their own direct meaning. For example, our understanding of the word "hero" depends on our understanding of the word "villain". Binary Opposites helps us as an audience understand the narrative used in films and music videos (e.g Taylor Swift is presented as the protagonist and the ex boyfriend as the antagonist). By having opposites within a media texts this enables the audience to be interested and create a climax to a narrative.  

Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze

Laura is a feminist whom of which looks into the "male gaze". This is how the audience view people who are presented in the media. There are 3 ways she says we look at women. 

How men look at women - sexual object/item

How woman look at themselves (personally) - Strong/Independent 

How women look at other women - Rude/inappropriate/"slaggy"

The male gaze focuses on:

• Emphasizing curves of the female body 
• Referring to woman as object rather than people
• Display woman how men think they should be perceived
• Seeing woman from a male point of view 
• How men are dominant over women
• How cinematography movements and framing is used to perceive women in certain ways

The main aspect of this theory is how Voyeurism is used.
In my music video I will be using a girl as my main talent, this is because women are seen to be more venerable rather then men. However, I know that if I use a girl in my music video, she wont mind me putting make-up on her to look scary as part of my abstract approach.  

John Berger -"Ways Of Seeing"

John Berger said "men act, women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at". From this we can instantly see the relation between Berger's theory and Laura Mulvey's theory.
His theory suggests how women self consciously  act in a way knowing they are being watched. Constantly being surveyed, not only by men but other women too.

On an in depth look on art in his book "ways of seeing", he also suggests the way people view art and the influences that traditional oil paintings have on society and modern day publicity. By this I mean how historic paintings have adapted to modern day imagery and ideologies.

This theory applies to male gaze as well with how I will be using the cinematography and costumes for my main talent.

Paul Messaris (1997)
His theory was how women know why they act and how the lens is used in the eye of a man. E.g how cinematography is used. Linking in with Laura Mulvey and John Berger's theories.

Tessa Perkins - Stereotyping
Tessa Perkins theory on Stereotyping is very direct and I believe most people will agree with her theory of stereotyping. She said that stereotyping isn't always negative and not always false. She believed how stereotyping is very hard to change. For example, we stereotype "chavs" as young teens living in council estates with tracksuits on and a "classic" tartan cap and trainers. If we were to change this stereotype, the ideologies would have to change - that being the mise-en-scene of this stereotype. Thinking of another way to portray someone as a chav is difficult without these stereotypical elements we associate with them. We tend to stereotype with what we see in the media and look at ourselves and categorise ourselves.

This theory doesn't really apply to the abstract approach, how the stereotype can be related to the genre of my music and what you'd expect to see from the music I have chosen.


Richard Dyer
Richard Dyer looked into the ideological and historical significance of films stars. " How we are seen determines how we are treated" This means how we treat others is based on how we see them. And how we see them comes from their representation. For example, Miley Cyrus is huge in the media at the present time for her music and how she dresses coming from a country singer to a pop singer. She may of acted in certain ways for the her music to be publicised and to be in the press but it is for the wrong reasons as she has at the age of either 19 or 20 been naked in a music video and got a "joint" out and 2013 MVA or MTV awards. How we see her is how most people will end up treating her.

Elements of making a music video

Main Elements of a music video

• Pre-production 
• Planning
• Editing
• Concepts
• Filming
• Production
• Brief - Duration, concept, purpose, limitations/budget/time, and target audience

Creative Team

• Executive Producer - getting costs/ Finances/Budgets 
• Writer - Takes concept and writes script from this (in this case, it is my lyrics of my chosen song)
•  Producer- Secures/oversees creative team - develops shooting schedules/ manages budget and time frame for completion 
• Director - Creative control of production/Directs performance of cast and crew
• Production Manager - day to day coordinator of production (people, equipment, facilities, catering, post production) 
• Storyboard Artist - works with producer/director to develop the storyboard of script
• Camera Operator
• Sound Technician
• Light Operator 
• Actors (Main Talent) 
• Editor 

Pre-Productions

• scene breakdown
• location listing
• prob and costume listings
• shot lists - time needed and camera angles (where, when, how long?)
• casting
• equipment list/hire
• transport
• informing people

Production

• film a scene 3 or 4 times(for continuity purposes) 
• health and safety report 
• Offline edit - more film than neede for online cutting and etc. 
• online edit - graphics, titles, and effects
• Sound mix can then be made - making sure all sounds are level (not too loud or quiet - continuous sound level through the video. However, as I am making a music video, the only mix I have to do, is to make sure that lip syncing is correct)

In all media texts, a narrative is essential. A narrative allows a text to have structure, this allows a music video to have a story; For example, the cliche love story "boy gets the girl" or a "break-up" love song. 

The plot of a media text (film) is how we see what happens - Ordering of events as music videos are not always in chronological order (e.g. flash backs).

To analyse music videos, we use the chronology (time order), story and plot of the narrative to understand what the the song or video is about. 

Within music videos, sometimes we allow the sound, cinematography, mise-en-scene and editing to be create verisimilitude/realism to the video. 

A theorist Tim O'Sullivan et al (1998) argues that all media texts tell us a story. Through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling us storied about ourselves - these stories are not always personal however the story is relatable. 

A media text which is produced has to reflect the values and ideology of the society which consumes it. My media teacher (Tim) suggested the everything has a narrative we need to deconstruct.

For example
Madonna- Vogue

• the representation in her music video is class through the use of its ideology and mise-en-scene 
• intertextual referencing by the use of mise-en-scene of 1940's Hollywood dress
• "something better than you are today" when she is dressed like the iconic Marilyn Monroe 
• Lots of posing reinforcing the title of the song "vogue"
• Editing is done on the beat 
• Self reflexive/self awareness - conical bra 
• singing about hollywood - same iconography in the video

This links in with Michael Shore's (1984) theory that music videos consist of "recycled styles, images overload, classic storytelling motifs and vanity in the moment"

Madonna's music video "Vogue" links to this theory because Madonna is referring to the 40's/50's icons and she wants to present herself as an icon of today trying to be glamourous as they were. This is reflexive as it is an intertextual media text being "vanity in the moment".

Music videos - Audio visual poetry? 

Sven Carlsson (1990) suggests how there are two aspects to a narrative structure.

These being

• Performance clips - The actual artist singing 
• Conceptual clips - Abstract 

However, Andrew Goodwin (1992) suggests how three aspects to a narrative structure are the following 

• Lyrics/Story - "classic story telling motifs" (linking to Michael Shore)
  Rebellion again religion, society, Authority, parents; Concerns about the enviroment, sexualities and etc..
  A good example of a band which have lyrics about the government is 'The Jam' with their song "This is a Modern World"
• Performance - This is when the artist/band is performing in a music video(elements of verisimilitude, pastiche, post modern re-use and intertextuality)  
• Abstract - Style over content - This is a every artistic approach to producing a music video

Target Audience Research - Questionnaire/Demographics

Asking Questions to College Students as part of my Target Audience Research

1. What types of iconography/conventions would you expect from a music video of a rock/indie genre?
2. What age range would you say would be suitable for drug use and sex conventions to be in a music video?
3. How do you watch music videos?
4. How often do you use youtube? - Do you use youtube over a music video tv channel?
5. Which artist is your favourite for the genre Rock/Indie?
6. I'm inspired by Rihanna's distrtbia music video, and this is how I want to present my drug scenes - although I will make this suit my music genre. Do you think this is a good idea?