Shot by Shot Guide

-          Establishing shot of art studio (0-3 s)

-          printing out the advert (close up) (4-6)

-          pan across other paintings (7-12)

-          close up of sticking the advert up (13-15)

-          shot focusing on the advert (16-24)

-          shot focusing on Rachel reading advert (25-29)

-          ellipses to him interviewing other girl (30-35)

-          Girls entering one after other (36-42)

-          POV shot of boy seeing girls (43-49)

-          frustrated due to not finding right girl (50-53)

-          crumbling up paper (54-55)

-          close up of crumpled pictures on the floor (56-63)

-          shot of blank canvas (64-65)

-          Rachel walking in (slow motion) (montage) (66-76 – 1 second interval with quick cuts)

-          shot of Brandon looking up and being amazed (slow motion) (77-80)

Change costume (different day)
-          Close up of art equipment (81-85)
-          Close up of Rachel’s face (86-89)
-          Cut to painted face (90-93)
-          Close up of Rachel’s eye (94-97)
-          Close up of painted eye (98-101)
-          Close up clock (102-106)
-          Close up of paint brushes and water (107-112)

Following day
-          Doing his hair in the mirror (113-120)
-          Putting on after shave (121-124)
-          Changes to tight t shirt (125-130)
Ellipses to the Art Studio
-          Flicking her hair (131-133)
-          Smiling back at each other (134-136)
-          More of clock (137-139)
-          She leaves (140-143)
-          Crest fallen look on Brandon’s face (144-147)

In evening
-          Brandon lying on his bed (148-152)
-          Picks up his phone and texts girl (153-158)
-          Girl in her room texting back (159-161)
-          Brandon decides to head towards the girls house, puts on jacket (162-165)
-          Walking down the street different angles (166-175)
-          Brandon arrives at Rachel’s house, close up on face (176-177)
-          Establishing shot of house, him going up steps (178-182)
-          Brandon thinking of knocking on the door, but doesn’t decide to (183-190)
-          Establishing shot again, walking down steps (191-194)
-          Walks over to the window (195-197)
-          can see Rachel and her Boyfriend snuggled up (198-202)
-          Cut back to Brandon’s face through the glass (203-207)
-          Dripping paint from his painting (208-214)

Feedback from Proposal

After pitching our idea to our peers and teacher, we had some constructive criticism from everyone. A few things they said to take into account were :

• Is there enough material for 3 minutes?
• Is the location good enough?
• Needs to be a sub narrative 

So after much deliberation, we decided to add a sub narrative of having several girls coming to audition to be the model for the artist, but the artist just doesn't seem to think they make the cut. He then meets our main girl (blonde girl - Rachel) and falls head over heals for her. Due to this sub narrative, we feel we would have enough material for 3 minutes and also keep the audience captivated.

Music Video Proposal

Final Idea - Mcfly, Love is Easy

Why we chose this idea
We chose the song, Love is Easy by artist Mcfly, because we felt that their music was more natural and pulled back, especially this song. It is also upbeat and enjoyable, while the songs that I chose were slow, depressing yet meaningful.
The artist reflects the majority of youth at our age, as teenagers
tend to like pop music, and teenage girls love synthetic artists, some of which are Boy Bands since they are created by the record label to increase sales in the short Term.


Why we dismissed my other ideas
The ideas that I thought stood out the most was Forrest Gump, by Frank Ocean. We dismissed my ideas, then as majority rules; we chose one of my partners (Kim's) was more enjoyable and more realistic than mine were. Also my group tended not to like moody, dark songs. And so we chose an upbeat love song instead. We felt as a concept Love is easy was more achievable than my idea and would be easier to organise than the many locations  required for my idea.

Music Video Idea - Frank Ocean

Forrest Gump – Frank Ocean

I imagine the video surrounding a perfectly normal park bench… The camera is filming while stationary; this would be sped up into a time-lapse, which would be used during particular shots. Passers-by use the park bench, however the shot is near to normal speed. This is to illustrate the lyrics such as:

• Someone smoking “from the cigarettes”
• A person running “running on my mind boy”
• People trying to swat a fly “I know…hurt a beetle”
• Person stretching “But you’re... so strong”

Every time the lyrics Forrest Gump is heard, the words will be displayed on the screen, for a split second.

Music Video Idea - Sia

Fair Game - Sia

I imagine this music video to be set in a fun fair/circus, where the camera is a character looking at the marvels of the amusement park.

Cutting to the beat, the lyrics are illustrated visually for some shots

Illustrate Lyrics

Scary Mask “You terrify me”

Strong man (freak show) “cause you’re… not a boy”

Winning a prize “And I…a toy”

“give me your wallet and your watch”

Shots of people on them park rides (bumper cars, roller coasters etc)…
(shots from Bastille – Flaws, Beyoncé – XO, Kaiser Chiefs - Meanwhile Up in Heaven)

Music Video Idea - Lorde

Buzzcut Season - Lorde

The world or reality is bad (explosions on tv, men on the news). People try to ignore it (girls with heads inside a dream) or pretend like everything is perfect. And sometimes you need to escape reality and the world we're living in and create your own world (make believe) where everything is good and you never want to leave.

I imagine a girl who is dealing with depression; she struggles with day to day life... Ignores what is going on around her and is held within the confines of her social life. By the end she realises that her life isn’t that bad and she can see that there are other things that other people experience.

I wanted the feeling of the video to be very slow, grey and murky… I also wanted certain shots or scenes to be in slow motion to emphasise their emotion and feelings.

Illustrate the lyrics:

• Slow motion of the camera lingering on a girls face “I Remember…your brain” Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
• Laughing directly to camera “Well you laughed, baby it’s okay”
• Camera is on girls legs in the bathroom where the sink is visible… Hair is falling down “Its buzzcut season anyway”. P!nk - F***kin Perfect
• Explosions on TV. (Screen within Screen) Beyonce - Pretty Hurts, Naughty Boy - Hotel Cabana
• Drugs “And all... A dream” 
• Bath/Ocean/Pool “So now… is good” 
• Riding the bus, eyes shut and listening deeply to music “We ride… that play” 
• Shot of a person reacting badly to a taste “sometimes this… Sweet taste” and “cola with… of us” News on TV 
• Running away from camera “and I’ll… home again” Rihanna - Man Down
• Dream world

Example Cover Art - Kula Shaker

Star Image 

The star image is a very cool and quirky band, that aren't sold on their looks but their weird antics.

Organic VS Synthetic
I think the artist is organic since the artist isn't sold on their looks, since they are not displayed on the front CD cover

Who will be the target audience?
The target audience is most probably men aged 20-30 since the album is very eye catching and it is very much distorted and hyper real, which would appeal to the younger part of the audience.

Add the forest background and make it look like a negative film, as all the colours are opposite, bright and unnatural

Then add the escalator image and remove the background by erasing the white part of the image, or by using the magic wand tool.

Add the image of the spaceman and remove the background, using the wand and eraser tool again

Position all the images to where they are in the official CD cover.

Add the text, this is done by using the Text tool on the left sidebar, you are able to change the font by highlighting the text and deciding on a font at the top of the screen, and edit colour by highlighting the text and choosing the correct colour on the right sidebar.

Original Album Cover

Star Theory

Richard Dyer, designed a theory for all Popstars "A star is an image, not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials"

• Stars as constructions
• Stars are constructed, artificial images
• USP - they can be copied and/or parodied because of it
• Stars are made to appeal to audiences, which will in turn generate revenue for record companies.
• Record companies nurture & shape their stars
• They tend to manufacture what they think audiences want, hence the 'photocopied' nature of many boy bands, teen bands etc.

"Stars are commodities produced & consumed on the strengths of their meanings"

Common values of music stardom:

• Youthfulness
• Rebellion
• Sexual magnetism
• Anti-authoritarian attitude
•  Originality
• Creativity/talent
• A disregard for social values relating to drugs & sex
• Conspicuous consumption of sex,drugs & material goods.

Characters & personality

• A star begins as a "real" human, but the star transformation process turns them into a construct.
• A pop stars persona needs constant nurturing. Madonna has been excellent at adapting and changing her persona to keep fans interested

Star Image Motifs

• These are a running theme for an artist. The aim is to help establish the artist as a band.
• Star image motifs could be recurring icons, images or fonts
• EG Red hot chilli peppers - Star image logo, Eminem - Backwards 'e', Rolling Stones - Tongue, Deadmau5 - Mouse Head

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is an excellent example of this theory as we see her push the boundaries of our generations perception of what is normal making her intriguing through her alternative clothing choices and extreme music videos. - Gaga's ability to perform and create music is of a high standard however this alone does not create her image and keep her in the spotlight it’s this “star” factor imagery that keeps the fans invested. 

Lady Gaga has a well-known alternative persona. This persona delivers something different to the viewer and listener that they enjoy. If an artist is at either end of the spectrum they tend to be successful. 

Lady Gaga is at the one end of the spectrum where she is so wacky that people love her because she is so far from normality. Whereas artists’ such as Adele are at that other end of the spectrum where they are extremely relatable for the viewer and listener that they adopt a liking.

Organic VS. Synthetic

Music Video Analysis - Lady Gaga

Telephone - Lady Gaga
Directed by Jonas Åkerlun

This video was a cutting edge cinematic experience for all of Lady Gaga's fans. The total  video is 9 minutes and 30 seconds, showcasing Lady Gaga's talent as an artist, promoting her unusual twist on the pop world, and also addressing some of the bad press she receives.

It starts with a prologue, which goes on until 3 minutes into the video. The font colours are yellow and pink, bright colours highlight that it is a synthetic pop song, which encompasses the constructed artist that Lady Gaga and Beyonce are.

Multiple establishing shots, show the location of the video, a prison. The audience views many shots as a CCTV camera, this encourages the audience to think about the idea of looking, the camera within a camera method is effective due to voyeurism, as it is like looking into someone's private world.

There is intertextual use of rumours being dealt with, the quote used is "she doesn't even have a d*ck", as the press state that Lady Gaga is a hermaphrodite.

Lady Gaga's star image is established with her very elaborate, revealing and wacky costumes. She is trying to show that she is outrageous and controversial.

Lady Gaga is the focus of the audiences attention as the camera tracks her into the outside prison area, and then cuts to everyone looking once she sits down on the bench

Again she tries to be as controversial as possible, as she is seen to make out with another actor, the reason for the controversy is because the viewer is unaware if the person Gaga is kissing is a man or a woman. While Lady Gaga seems to rub their crotch, which puts the viewer on edge.

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals as Gaga seems to change outfit and change location in a split second, while her name is overheard on a tannoy radio, She then picks up a telephone, where the song begins to finally start.
There is also a relationship between visuals and music, as Lady Gaga lip syncs to the camera while editing makes it seems as though the beat has been made after the video.

Discontinuity editing is then used between shots from the Prison Cells to the holding room, we also don't see the prisoners breaking out of their cells, which a film would show. This is just one example of ellipses throughout the video.

The performance element is a major part of any synthetic artist, and Lady Gaga exhibits this in a grand way. The video contains multiple dance routines, which is editing in time to the beat of the music. Which allows for the viewer to feel connected to the artist even more.

More discontinuity editing is used this time from the outside the cells to inside one of the cells wrapped provocatively in Police Line Tape, highlighting her sexuality and her body.

Another intertextual use of a movie is with the vehicle 'Pussy Wagon', Beyonce also wears a bright yellow dress which is iconic of of the movies Kill Bill Vol 1&2, and another moment is from the diner which is a pastiche to the Natural Born Kills opening sequence. The reason for the use of these intertextual moments is because the director is good friends with director, Quentin Tarantino.

Use of a gratuitous cleavage shot highlights the male gaze, of the male characters view.

More shots show Gaga cooking in the kitchen, on the side of the screen there are instructions on how to make a sandwich, this is a message to how girls are treated and how men make them feel.

Lady Gaga again makes humour of herself by wearing more Telephone paraphernalia, with a phone style hat, and a phone hair peace, which acts as an eye patch.

Split screens are used to create discontinuity within the narrative.
And Beyonce has shots in the diner mixed with shots in an empty motel room, which just allows for the director to add more costume and set design changes in, to make it more fun and enjoyable for the viewer to watch.

The last shot is Lady Gaga and Beyonce holding hands just before the 'Pussy Wagon' goes off into the sunset, this is an intertextual moment of the final scene in the movie, 'Thelma and Louise'. Both Lady Gaga and Beyonce are wearing full length black outfits which symbolise their mourning, as they could be about to drive their car off a cliff, just like 'Thelma and Louise' to get away from the authorities.

Conventions of a Music Video

Andrew Goodwin found 4 main parts of a music video, these are:

• Performance
• Narrative
• Thematic
• Symbol

Music videos often are very visually stylish, meaning that they have a very cinematic feel to them, as many artists/labels have a very high budget to be spent on the video that accompanies the artists track.

Many videos don't follow much of a structure, this breaks the rule of continuity editing. Usually in a rhythmic montage, this is because it is much harder to fit a whole narrative in the space of a 3 minute song.

Other conventions of a music video:

• Cut to the beat
• Relationship between visuals and music
• Relationship between lyrics and visuals
• Close ups of the artist/band, generally lip-syncing or playing an instrument
• Scopophilia/Voyerism/Male Gaze - References to the notion of looking
• Some form of narrative & performance element
• Intertextual references

Preliminary Task - Review

We were able to use the camera very effectively even with the absence of using the equipment, since AS work was shot last year
We also used the green screen, which allowed us to edit more freely and helped us to enhance our editing skills since we had not used a green screen beforehand.
We worked well in our group, and enabled us to decide who we would work with for the real task.

However my group found it extremely hard to find and pick a song that we could all agree on.
Then once we chose the song, during filming we were unable to keep a 'straight face', which makes the feel of the whole video very amateurish.
We also found it very difficult during the editing process, since we forgot the basic skills of editing.
And also we found the green screen an utter nuisance during the editing, since we didn't remove the creases before shooting took place, it then became almost impossible to remove them afterwards, without ruining the whole performance