First draft: Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey

Draft album poster and digipak

Production Diary #9: NEW MUSIC VIDEO IDEA

After thinking through my options very carefully, I have decided to change my music video idea. Although it is very late to do this, I feel entirely confident that the new music video idea will be more successful and easier to create. I have decided to use the hit song Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey. This song is a lot more slow and full of emotion compared to my old song, Primadonna by Marina and the Diamonds. I have decided to change my music video as I struggled with the old song and idea as I couldn't visualise it in my mind and didn't have a lot of access to the costumes that needed to be acquired. I also didn't feel entirely confident using the desired effects that I needed. I feel a lot better about my new idea: the video will follow a young woman who is getting ready to go out. I will use a variety of shots such as long and extreme close up. At the end, an older woman, who is revealed to be the young woman from the beginning, reflects back on her life, however the story is that she is still beautiful despite her age. I have already begun to shoot and edit my footage together and plan to have my first draft in by next week.

Props list

As I am hoping to film my video in the up-coming weeks I need to get together the props I will need for filming. I need to think of this now because I will have to know where to get the props from and contact people if I am required to borrow anything.

 

The props I need for my video are:

• Curlers
• Water bottle
• High heels
• Glamorous dress
• Make-up
• Mirror
• Hairbrush
• Ring
• Photo frame
• Artificial rose
• Violin
• Shirt
• Tie
• Smart trousers
• Smart shoes
• Stereo

Draft album and digipak

Draft album and digipak

Production Diary #8

In the past few lessons I have been completing some planning and research posts to keep up to date with the project. This includes an editing software analysis, a location recce, proposal, risk assessment and contact with the artist. I plan on conducting as much research as I can until I film my music video and start editing it together so that I have as much done as possible.

Location Recce

Location Recce

Proposal

Proposal

Risk assessment

Risk Assessment

Editing software

Editing Software

Contact with the artist

Here is a screen shot of the email I have sent to Lana Del Rey's management to gain permission to use the song "Young and Beautiful" for my music video.

Chosen locations

Chosen Locations

Product research: music video analysis

California Gurls Analysis

Test shoot: Green screen

In my last leson I decided to do a test shoot with my artist to figure out whether I should use a black studio or a green screen. In the test shoot, I realised that it would be best to use the black studio because, as you can see, when she spins around you can still very clearly see the green lines around her, especially her hair. Although using a green screen would have meant that I would be able to control the video a lot more in the editing process, the black studio will definitely enable me to have a better quality and an overall more professional look. Here are some photos taken during the test shoot:

Draft album cover

 

I have created my draft album cover so that closer to the timem, when I have all of the relevant material, I will quickly and easily be able to drop everything in. I plan to consistently use the same fonts although the font used is subject to change. The image is currently a placeholder as I am yet to hold a photoshoot for the images that I will use for this project. I have chosen to use two reviews so that the audience will be persuaded to buy the album as they think it'll be good - especially from trusted music critics and magazines such as NME and The Guardian. Also, I have added social networking at the bottom so that the audience can interact with the artist.



Editing images - 3D effect

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my album cover and digipak, I have decided to go with a '3D' looking theme as it stands out and makes the image look really different and interesting. I decided to use an image of Ruth (who's going to be in my music video) from my AS coursework which she also partook in, so that I could play around with the effects and decide what would look best for when I have my real images ready. This will also help me to familarise myself with Photoshop and the tools used to create this effect. I plan on using another image that has a background so that I can enhance the image further and make her pop out of the image. The theme that I want to go with is very vintage and dream-like therefore the editing process is vital for the photos that I will use in this project.

Costume planning

Production Diary #7

This week I have developed my ideas a lot, by finishing off my research and beginning to plan the video. I plan to go along with a modern Goldlocks theme, which displays how the protagonist picks a persona, a man and an accessory until what she finds is 'just right'. I will also be featuring intertextual references with huge, inspirational celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, James Bond and James Dean. I have chosen to scrap my 'Plan B', although if everything doesn't go to plan I can still use that as my safe base. I plan to create a lot of planning posts now as I have some ideas to go from and can even begin shooting when I feel comfortable as more ideas arise.

Moodboard

Goldilocks research

Video ideas

Digipak analysis

Production Diary #7

This week, I have done a lot of research within the music industry such as looking into festivals and music labels, the influences of the pop industry and completing an analysis of lyrics to 'Primadonna' by Marina and the Diamonds, which is the song that I plan to use. I have also done some research into my audience.
Half way during the week, however, I was listening to music on my TV and came across another song that I could use - and ideas quickly sprung to mind about what video I could make from it. The song is 'Control' by Matrix and Futurebound, a fairly upbeat, dance song which I feel is different and I could create a narrative video to. This differs to 'Primadonna', as although I would love to use it, I haven't had many ideas for the video yet which is worrying me - so using 'Control' is plan B.
I hope to really come up with some ideas for Primadonna otherwise I will switch the song and start cracking on with developing some of the ideas that I already have from 'Control'. I hope to do this within the next few lessons by conducting a little bit more research and then completing some planning tasks.

Music Labels

Audience Research

PRIMARY AUDIENCE

§The primary audience of my music video would be fans of Marina and the Diamonds as the song would be on her album and therefore the fans would watch the video.
§It could also be aimed at people who generally like the pop genre, and not just necessarily Marina and the Diamonds.
§This audience is generally girls aged between 12-25.

WHO ARE THE AUDIENCE?
§The audience would be mainly teenage girls around the ages of 12-25.
§They would generally have an interest in shopping: in the typical age category shops for my audience include  Topshop, MissGuided and River Island.§This audience would be interested in the appearance of the artist as well as how she represents herself through her fashion choices.
§They would also pay attention to the lyrics of the song and due to the pop genre they would be very up beat and catchy.
§They would also be interested in attending music festivals and concerts. Some typical festivals that they would go to includes, Capital’s Summertime Ball, V-Festival and Wireless.
§Social networking will play a huge role in interaction with my audience. I believe this because pop artists and their fans rely on their phones and are often using their phones for platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, where they can see what their favourite artists are doing and actively communicate with them.


COMMUNICATION WITH POP ARTISTS
§ As I have previously mentioned, social networking sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter allow fans to keep up to date with their favourite artists as well as being able to find out extra information about the artist. This is because almost all music artists use these social networking sites regularly to keep fans up to date with what they are doing, gigs, and release dates as well as competitions to interact with their fans.
§YouTube is another way that fans are able to keep up to date with their favourite artists as they are able to watch their new videos and songs as soon as they are released free of charge. They would be able to post the video and anyone around the world would be able to watch it, which is a positive thing for the artist as it spreads quickly and can instantly boost their fame.
§The artist website may also be used by the fans as this would be kept up to date and new things would be posted as soon as they are released. This also allows anyone to visit it and would allow the audience to find out more about the artist. Merchandise is often sold on artists websites as well as pre-sales available for the fans when they have a tour in the nearby future.
§Magazines can also be used to communicate with fans as they would have new information and interviews with the artists. These magazines may include ones such as Top of the Pops, We Love Pop and Billboard.

Primadonna - Lyric analysis

Influences of the Pop genre

Festivals

Production Diary #6

In the last week, I have completed a variety of research tasks in order to consolidate my knowledge of the music industry. Tasks I have completed includes research on the artist I am using (Marina And The Diamonds), existing music channels, equipment and videos I admire. I feel as though the equipment and videos I admire were the most beneficial posts for me, as I discussed the pros and cons of using the equipment I have access to and how I can use them for the project. The videos I admire also helped me as I explained why I am influenced by particular videos and what technicques I could possibly grab with them, for example in the music video 'Fancy' where a wide variety of props for mise-en-scene are used. In the next lesson, I hope to complete a few planning tasks so that I can generally get a move on and begin to shoot as soon as I can.

Videos I admire

A music video I admire is 'Young and Beautiful' by Lana Del Rey. It is very classic and I like how a wide variety of shots are used on Lana as well as from the movie 'The Great Gatsby'. I also like the mise-en-scene - Lana is dressed very elegantly in a long, sparkly dress. It matches the song very well as it is old fashioned and very flamboyant. Her makeup is also very well suited to the song; she is wearing bold, red lipstick combined with sleek eyeliner and teardrops painted on to her cheek. The use of the orchestra is very effective because it is a signifier of the music that we can hear in the soundtrack. The video is generally very dark with colours of red, yellows and blues - all primary colours, which indicates that the video is very stylised and chic. I would love to create a video like this however I do not have access to most of the things that this video seems to boast - such as the lights, costumes and use of musical instruments to match with the music.





Another music video that I admire is 'Fancy' by Iggy Azalea. This music video is heavily based on the classic movie 'Clueless' which was released in 1995. A lot of mise-en-scene is used so that the video accurately mimics the film, and it was even filmed at the same school that the film was shot in! There is some dance as well as narrative as we see Iggy in the most popular scenes from the film - at school, in the car, during gym class and at a party. A wide variety of shots are used such as close ups of Iggy, and long/wide shots to show off all of the locations, costumes and props. I would love to create a music video like this, however, again I do not have the privilege of working within these locations or access to props. I do hope to keep my video as upbeat as this one, as the pace of it matches with the song - especially with the little dance routines and conventional mannerisms.

Equipment

Existing music channels

Marina & The Diamonds

Film directors

Conventions of a music video

Production Diary #5

Today, I spent the first half of the lesson completing a task about researching the different genres in music. I discussed pop, alternative, hip hop, rap, country and rock which helped me come to the conclusion that I would like to use an alternative/pop song for my music video. I have chosen to use the song 'Primadonna by Marina and The Diamonds' as the song is very fun and energetic with a great, edgy beat. I feel like the model (my friend, Ruth) I have chosen to play the lead singer in the video will fit the role of Marina perfectly as they share similar characteristics, and I feel as though if Ruth was a real singer then this would be the music that she would produce - which is always a plus sign, which will hopefully benefit my work significantly.

Key Concepts 1A and 1B

Genre

Initial planning ideas

This is my first planning post about my initial ideas regarding my music video. I discuss the possible songs and music videos that I am using for inspiration as well as many other ideas that I may use, although I am aware that these ideas may change later on in the project.

Production Diary #4

After finishing from school a few weeks ago, I have had plenty of time to come up with a few more ideas for my music video. In the beginning of the project, I really struggled to develop ideas that I could use for my video, especially what song to use. I have, however, decided on two genres which I can't seem to pick from yet, which are Pop and R'n'B. I listen to R'n'B a lot more than I do Pop, so it would seem the more sensible choice however I feel as though creating a Pop music video would be more successful as I have more access to the props and locations needed if I were to proceed with Pop instead of R'n'B. I plan on creating an initial planning post which will hopefully help me decide what genre to choose, and maybe even a song.

Pop artists:

1. Taylor Swift
2. Ariana Grande
3. Katy Perry

R'n'B artists:

1. Beyonce
2. Rihanna
3. Cassie

Production Diary #3

Over the summer holiday, I mainly plan on choosing a song and gathering some ideas of what music video I want to create. If I can successfully do this, then I will be able to choose locations, costumes and props to use and I can even begin to start shooting for the music video if I get to that point. As it stands, I plan on creating a pop music video which is performance based, OR a R'n'B music video which is narrative - however I want to look into these types of music videos more deeply first to gain more knowledge of each one, so I will also do this over the summer break. I want to achieve all of the typical conventions of the music video so it would be ideal for me to really consolidate my knowledge by doing this.  This will involve looking into the history of music videos, conventions of a music video, analysis' of music videos in both the pop and R'n'B genre as well as research into each genre itself. I also plan to dig deeper, such as researching into band/artists that I plan to use and am inspired by. Hopefully this will enable me to create a music video that ticks all of the boxes and by the end of summer I hope to have at least planned some of the music video so that it is almost ready to shoot.

Analysis of previous A2 Media Studies coursework

Research into existing music labels

Production Diary #2

Throughout this week, I started to gather my ideas together for what type of music video I want. At the moment, I am steering towards a pop/R'n'B genre of music. A pop video would be heavily performance based - this can be quite tricky as I need the right performer in order for it to work. However, I think that the editing process of this type of music video would be easier as it involved a lot of green screens and other fun things that I can co-operate with. R'n'B would probably be more narrative based - something that I think would be a lot easier, however thinking of the actual story for a song could be quite challenging. As it stands, I still haven't come to an ultimate conclusion of what music video I want however I am definitely exploring my options as widely as I possibly can.

During the next week, I hope to explore these genres more and come up with a few more ideas so that it will be easier for me to choose when I am ready.

Skills audit:
Some skills that I can bring to the project include creativity and strong sense of the music industry. I am quite creative minded therefore I find it quite easy to come up with ideas that others wouldn't necessarily think of, although sometimes it may take me quite some time. I've grown up constantly surrounded by music and I always watch music videos - watching TV channels such as Kiss, MTV Base, Viva, The Box etc as well as being subscribed to YouTube and Vevo and having the apps on my phone. This has enabled me to see a wide variety of music videos over time so I know what each genre of music generally expects in terms of their conventions therefore when I choose my genre and song, I will immediately know what to include in my video.
I have good time management and scheduling skills as I am used to hitting deadlines. In AS Media we had a week to complete research and create another weekly log of progress, as well as finishing the completed magazine in time for it to be marked by examiners.
I am also confident with using editing programmes, from GCSE ICT as well as when I used to make videos for fun on my laptop using iMovie. 

Product research

What is a digipak?

What is a digipak?

• A style of CD or DVD packaging.
• A registered trademark of AGI-Shorewood, and Atlas Holdings LLC company.
• Usually consists of 4-8 panels.
• Printed on card with a plastic case inside to hold the CD.
• Folds out like a book, rather than that of opening a conventional case.
• Usually they do not contain any extra information compared to plastic CD cases, but instead contains lots of images.
• Digipak's are designed to be cheaper and easier to produce than a normal jewel case.

Production Diary #1

This week we begun to look at ideas for our music videos. Initially, I was quite confused on what to do as I had no ideas however now I feel spoilt for choice! I am quite interested in doing a music video with a narrative - I enjoy to watch music videos that have a story line as sometimes music videos with performers can get a bit tedious at times.

We watched a few music videos and discussed what was going on in them. I feel like this helped me to develop ideas a lot. I liked the ideas of creating a parody, such as in Iggy Azalea's Fancy which is based on the film Clueless. I also find the idea of multiple personalities and transformation of character quite interesting. Split Screen also looked quite fun - it's definitely not something that you see every day so it would be quite exciting to create.
Coldplay created a very fascinating music video for The Scientist. It is filmed backwards so the leadsinger, Chris Martin, had to learn the lyrics backwards so that the lip syncing would fit! I would love to create something like this however it might be a little bit too difficult.

At the moment, I am still quite undecided on what I want to do in terms of genre and what type of music video to create, however one thing I do have planned is who is going to be in it. One of my friends, Ruth, attends dance classes regularly and has offered to help me so I feel that she is a good choice, as a natural performer, so my music video will benefit from her greatly. I also have some other friends who have offered their help if I need any back up dancers.

Some songs that I have thought of using are Beyonce - Run The World (Girls), Coldplay - Magic, Paramore - The Only Exception, Wilkinson - Afterglow, Chris Malinchak - So Good To Me and The 1975 - Falling For You. As you can see, these songs are all from different genres so I think planning ahead with songs will help so that it requires less time to think about when I get to that stage.

Some videos that I am inspired by: