Actress for Music Video

I have decided to use a girl called Alice as my actress for my music video. I have chosen Alice because she is 19 and this fits in with my target audience so would be able to relate to them. She has dark brown long hair and is a height of 5'5. I mostly chosen Alice because she loves Ellie Goulding which is very helpful meaning she would already know the lyrics to my chosen song therefore I do not have to hand them to her earlier and make sure she knows them and there will be less chance of the lip syncing going wrong. Below are a couple of pictures of Alice to give you a general idea of what she looks like.

Ideas

I have decided on a few details for my music video so I wrote them down and sort them so that they were clear and I could arrange things properly.

Loactions for filimg music video:
-Streets
-Fields
-Hall
-White backdrop (Photography Studio)

Props:
-Coloured flour
-Vases

Clothing:
Outfit 1 - Fields
- Leather Skirt
- T shirt
- Boots
- Necklace
Outfit 2 - White backdrop
- White long t shirt dress
- Bare feet
Outift 3 - Streets
- Jeans/Disco Pants
- Shirt
- Dusty Pink Coat
- Boots
Outfits 4 - Hall
- Dress

Weather

For my music video I have decided i want a mixture of light by filming at different points in the day. I want to do some filming in the morning to have a soft sunlight look on my footage, but then i also want to have some filming during midday so that the light is brighter. Weather for filming is very important because at different times in the day, the sun light is different. I cannot have some filming of the morning sunlight, and some of the afternoon sunlight in the same part of my music video as this would make it obvious that i didnt film my music video as one and it wouldnt be realistic either. Weather is also important due to if it is sunny or raining. I cannot have shots that are sunny and then some which are of pouring down rain unless this is what im looking for because it wouldnt look right.

Timetable for Recording Session 1

I made a table on Microsoft Excel which contains headings such as Date, Time, Length of filming. This table will be filled in when i film and help me keep track of what I filmed, where and when. Below is a print screen of when I first updated my timetable about recording.

 

 

In this print screen you can see I gave each collumn a header so that I could clearly see what information I had. I filled this graph in before and after my filming so that I had the correct information. I found this helpful as I can look back and see what I did on my first recording session, what my actress wore and other numerous important bits of information. It is also good because it shows my ideas for that day and is a simple way of displaying my thoughts and work.

Deciding

I sat down for an hour today to set some things out of what I want to happen at certain times in my music video. I listened to my song choice Explosions by Ellie Goulding and typed up while it was playing what minute it was on the song and actions or shots which I wanted to happen. This has hellped me because i know which kind of shots and angles i need to film to have my music video idea work. This will make my editing process easier as I will know what is to go where. Below is the final draft of what I typed up.

 

0:00 – 0:10 Lots different of close ups of face and wide shots

 

"Ahhhh x4"

0:10 – 0:12 (Bang) open eyes and look up at camera to start singing and lip syncing

 

"You trembled like.."

0:13 – 0:19 Lip syncing to song in a deserted area

 

"You'd seen a ghost and I gave in"

0:19 – 0:20 (Bang) switches to another place and carry on lip syncing to song

 

"Ahhhh"

0:21 – 0:28 Lip syncing in another destination

 

"I lack the things you need the most, You said where have you been?"

 

0:29 – 0:31 (Bang) Camera cut to another place

 

"Ahhhh"

0:32 – 0:38 Lip syncing to song again

 

"You wasted all that sweetness to run and hide, I wonder why?"

0:39 – 0:40 (High pitched oooo) slow motion shots of singer walking with arms flying around

 

"Ooooo"

0:41 – 0:49 lots of different shots of singer being happy and dancing around in destinations and lots of close up shots of smiling face

 

"I remind you of the days you poured your heart into, but you never tried" 

 

0:50 – 0:59 More shots of singer walking around on hills, roads, sitting on trains or buses or cars

 

"I've fallen from grace, took a blow to my face, I've loved and I've lost, I've loved and I've lost"

1:00 – 1:03 Slow motion of singer throwing head back to (explosions)

 

"Explosions..."

1:04 – 1:19 Singing in a road with passion (arm movements)

 

"On the day you wake up, needing somebody and you've learned, it's okay to be afraid"

1:20 – 1:23 Walking off into distance throwing hands down normal speed

 

"But it will never be the same"

1:24 – 1:26 Shot of singer looking over shoulder (it will never be the same)

 

"It will never be the same"

1:27 – 1:30 Cut back to walking this time in a field

 

Instrumental

1:31 – 1:59 Shots of hands clapping, feet stamping, banging on a drum mixed with shots of singer lip syncing in random places (field, road, white backdrop) with close up shots of singer looking up in slow motion and throwing hair/head back

 

"You left my soul bleeding in the dark, so you could be king, the rules you set are still untold to me, and I've lost my faith in everything"

"The nights you could cope, your intentions were gold, but the mountains will shake, I need to know I can still make"

2:00 – 2:20 mixed shots of singer singing and walking

 

"Explosions...on the day you wake up, needing somebody and you've learned, it's okay to be afraid, but it will never be the same"

2:21 – 2:30 shots of a disappointed face of singer then looking directly into camera

 

Intrumental

2:31 – 3:00 panning and spinning shots of singer lip syncing on top of hill

 

"And as the floods move in, and your body starts to sink, I was the last thing on your mind, I know you better than you think, 'cause it's simple darling, I gave you warning,
now everything you own is falling from the sky in pieces, so watch them fall with you, in slow motion, I pray that you'll find peace of mind"

3:01 – 3:09 shots stop and just show her face close up lip syncing looking deep into the camera lens then when no singing is happening shots flick between different destinations of singer just standing looking into camera

 

"And I'll find you another time, I'll love you, another time"

3:10 – 3:30 different long and close up shots of singer lip syncing in different places performing banging drums clapping and stamping

 

"Explosions...on the day you wake up, needing somebody and you've learned, It's okay to be afraid"

3:31 – 3:58 shots of walking and close up feet and face and landscape shots

 

"But it will never be the same"

Ellie Goulding Explosions Lyrics

Below I have pasted the lyrics of Explosions which is my song choice for my A level media music video. The lyrics speak about love and the stuggles that love can cause in a relationship. The songs lyrics also talk about being hurt by someone you love which is said though lines in the pre chorus such as "Took a blow to my face" and "I've loved and I've lost". All of the small phases thoughout the song tell a story about a person loving another person who doesnt seem to feel the same way back. I think the song has a lot of emotion and the lyrics are strong and possibly could connect well with my target audience of girls aged between 14 and 20. I will try to bring out this emotion in my music video because I feel it is important to show this and have the video as strong as the music.

"You trembled like you'd seen a ghost
And I gave in
I lacked the things you need the most,
You said where have you been?

You wasted all that sweetness to run and hide
I wonder why
I remind you of the days you poured your heart into
But you never tried

I've fallen from grace
Took a blow to my face
I've loved and I've lost
I've loved and I've lost

Explosions...on the day you wake up
Needing somebody and you've learned
It's okay to be afraid
But it will never be the same
It will never be the same

You left my soul bleeding in the dark
So you could be king
The rules you set are still untold to me
And I've lost my faith in everything

The nights you could cope,
Your intentions were gold
But the mountains will shake
I need to know I can still make

Explosions...on the day you wake up
Needing somebody and you've learned
It's okay to be afraid
But it will never be the same

And as the floods move in
And your body starts to sink
I was the last thing on your mind
I know you better than you think
'Cause it's simple darling, I gave you warning
Now everything you own is falling from the sky in pieces
So watch them fall with you, in slow motion
I pray that you'll find peace of mind
And I'll find you another time
I'll love you, another time

Explosions...on the day you wake up
Needing somebody and you've learned
It's okay to be afraid
But it will never be the same"

General Questionnaire

I have made up a questionnaire which i would like some young girls to answer to give me a general idea about what they think about my song choice. The questions ask things like what thy imagine a music video for my song would be like and how the song makes them think, feel and imagine. I have given these questionnaires to a year ten class of girls and also a year eleven class of girls too so i have a lot of answers and a slight range in age but also so that the age is within my target audience. The year tens will be aged between fourteen and fifteen, and the year elevens will be between the ages of fifteen and sixteen which is within my target audience aged range. The fact they are all girls is also part of my target audience because I believe it is mostly girls who listen to Ellie Goulding. I am awaiting the results which will them help me with ideas and details for my music video. Below is a copy of my questionnaire.

Video Ideas

Below are some music videos for songs I like and feel that I would want to do my music video for. I have a few different choices.




 This song by Ellie Goulding is called Explosions. The song is about a being affraid to be alone without your partner or loosing someone you love. I like the song because I think it is really powerful and that i could do a really powerful video to match it.



The second video that I liSelfies by Nina Nesbit. I like this song because it is fun and has actions said in it which i could incorperate in my video.



This music video is by Taylor Swift and the song is called Shake it off.

Copyright Letter

I looked on the Internet to find out which record label was responsible for Ellie Goudling's song Explosions. I found the record labels name was Polydor, so I then found out their contact details and started to write a copyright letter to ask for their permission to use Ellie Goulding's song. Once I finished the letter I put it in an envelope and sent it to the record label. I am awaiting their reply and permission to use the song. Meanwhile I am carrying on with my research. Below is proof of my letter.

Final Song Choice

I have chosen Explosions by Ellie Goulding for my music video. Below is the original music video and song from youtube, and below that is just the lyric version.

Target Audience

As I have chosen to do a song by Ellie Goulding I need to decided what target audience I should aim my video at. I researched into Ellie Goulding and her fans and found that the majority were females. I also noticed that the age group was about 14 to 20 on average. From these two statistics I have chosen females between the ages 14 to 20 as my target audience. This way I know that people who enjoy listening to Ellie Goulding and her fan base will be interested in my video. I will use colours which I associate with girls and also things which I believe girls in the age range of 14 to 20  would be interested in. I have also been watching Ellie Goudling's music videos to gather information on what she puts in her music videos which seems to attract her audience. I noticed with her faster songs she has a lot of dancing around and bright colours, with her slower songs the videos are a lot more gentle filming and she also uses some slow motion. I will use these techniques when filming my music video as it will attract the correct target audience.

I have researched into girls aged 14 to 20 and have made a mood board (below) to show my findings.

 

My mood board has lots of logos of brands and social networking sites of which girls aged 14 to 20 use and are associated with. I have also put up pictures of female artists which my target audience have been found to like and also some idols like Zac Efron who is known to be a teenage girls celebrity crush. The brands MAC and NARS are make up brands which is associated with my target audience as most girls this age are into make up. They're also into the brands like Victoria's Secret, Topshop and some other brands I put up here as they're they typical teenage girl shops to shop in. I have also added some programs which teenage girls mostly watch.

Questionnaire Results

Below is five pie charts showing the results from the questionnaire which i did to see a general preference. I fond that pop music was very popular from looking at question one. I the on question two gathered that a mixture of permances for the video such as a live performance, dancing, or a narrative was preferred. From looking at question three i found that the general person prefers to watch a womans music video compared to a males or a male and females. I also found from analysing question four that a prefered length for a music video is around four minutes. for my last question, i found out that a slow song for a music video is favoured over an upbeat or a mixture of up beat and slow song.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questionnaire

Question 1. What genre do you prefer?

A) Pop music 

B) Indie music

C) Rap music 

D) Rock music

Question 2. What type of music video do you prefer? 

A) Narrative 

B) Dance

C) Live performance

Question 3. What gender do you prefer to watch in a music video?

A) Female

B) Male

C) Female & Male

Question 4. What length video do you prefer to watch? 

A) Short (3 minutes)

B) Medium (4 minutes)

C) Long (5 minutes+) 

Question 5. What speed song do you prefer to watch?

A) Up beat 

B) Slow 

C) Mixture of both speeds 

Music Genres

There are many different genres in music videos such as Pop, Rock, Indie, Rap and R&B. I have been looking into the different genres to see which one I would prefer to do my music video on. Each genre's music video has similarities but they all vary in style. As I couldn't choose which genre to do I decided I would make a questionnaire to see what the general public preferred. I also added in some other questions to help me determine what other things people liked for my music video.

Change

I decided recently to make a music video instead of my horror movie trailer. I liked the idea that I had for my trailer but I wasn't sure how I could have made it work as it would have had to include quite a few people who were able to act. I decided to change my trailer to a music video because even though I had lots of good ideas for my trailer a music video was more achievable. I also changed my mind because I thought editing the trailer would be simpler and I feel that I could do more with the music video. I will from now on be researching into music videos and analysing them to gather thoughts for my own music video.

Horror Film Trailer

I decided to make a horror film trailor for my A2 year in media. I decided to do this because I like watching horror films and I feel I could recreate the same feel that current horror films do.

I have lots of interesting ideas for my horror trailor which I'm eager to come to life. I have gathered ideas by watching the trailers below. I chose Paranomal Activity as film trailers to watch because my main idea for a trailer would be based on CCTV cameras around a house with spooky things going on. Paranomal Activity does this in their films and I would like to create a similar effect for my trailer.

Paranomal Activity 1

Paranomal Activity 2


Paranomal Activity 3


Paranomal Activity 4



I have made notes on the parts of the trailers of which I feel are best and are similar to which I would like to achieve. I will next start planning a plot for my trailer.

Indroduction

Hello my name is Emily Brown. This is my A2 blog where I will be posting all of my coursework from A2 media which I have just currently started. This blog will include questionnaires, ideas, interviews, evaluations, progress and feedback, and it is a great way to keep up with all of what I have and will be doing.

Last year for AS level Media I completed two different tasks. The first task being a preliminary task of a school magazine, the second task being my main piece of coursework, a music magazine. For my music magazine I had to create my own front cover, double page spread and contents page for a music magazine with a genre of my choice. I learnt how important research and feedback was, also I found out that planning and ideas are crucial for this kind of thing. I learnt that updating my blog regularly was good to show my progress of thoughts, ideas and research. To finish my blog off for my AS coursework I gathered feedback and wrote evaluations. I used programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign to help complete my AS media AS level.

This year for my media A2 coursework I have been given the option to either create a film trailer or a music video. After the tasks had been explained and I had some time to think I came to the decision to make a film trailer. One reason I chose to do this was because I watch a large amount of films and would know what is expected in trailers, such as what conventions are used to make them appealing. I also chose a film trailer because they interest my more than music videos.
I have already decided I want to make horror film trailer as this is the genre I watch and am most excited by. I am not sure on what type of horror I want to do yet so this will be decided after more research. I will look into conventions of a horror trailer and research them until I know exactly what is expected then I can start finalising plans for my music video.
To film my film trailer I will use my camera which is a  Canon 1100D with a 50mm lens. This is a good camera to start with and adding the lens will give me a good clear picture and make things look a little more professional. To edit my video I will be using Windows Movie Maker and Adobe Premier, both of which I already have experience with due to previously as a preliminary task making a clip and editing it. The clip had to be 2-5 minutes long and about a package exchange, I film this task in a train station with my partner Lauren Turell and completed it by editing it using the programs. This task prepared me for my main task of my film trailer as I got used to filming and using the editing software's.