Idea's For Our DigiPaks By Jaime

As Hollie and I both take part in Applied Art for A levels we thought it would be a good idea to combine our knowlegde and talent and draw our front cover for our digipak. We have discussed ideas such as drawing Bobby himself with a layered background with plain sutle colours. Or another possiblity was going to be of Hollie and James together in either photography or drawings. It could be of them walking away together or a close up of them holding hands. I like the idea of the photo of them walking away in the park as the colours of the trees will look great as it can reflect the mood of the entire song. The theame of the cover should be noticable to the audience and I aim to acheive that they can identify that its an acoustic song.

Materials we can use:
'Photogrpahy
'Carbon paper
'Paint
'Photoshop-emphasis auturnm colours
'Collaging and over layering

Our Trip Down to BRIGHTON

We all met at 10.30 at Woking Station to start our journey to our filming destination. The car journey only took about an hour and 20 minutes and finding Bobbys house was pretty easy with the help of Hollies iPhone and google maps. We found Bobbys house and he was very welcoming and friendly. He was eager to start filming and get in the zone. We all decided that the filming part of Bobby would take place in his room against his white wall. After moving his bed and removing posters and photos we had are basic scene ready. Bobby got changed into his outfit which was a plain smart white shirt and a un-done black tie. This gave him a relaxed jazzy look. Bobby gave us the choice whether we wanted him to use an electric guitar or a acoustic guitar in the music video. We decided it would be a better idea to go with the acoustic guitar as it would look better with the type of song of his and the research we have done about acoustic artists.

We started to film a nervous looking Bobby with the song track playing in the background,half way through the first take of filming he started to relaxed but we needed him to be totally ready and prepared so we could make the best of our filming. After a few more takes of zooming in and out of Bobby, he had to request having a beer to losen his voice and have a cigarette to steady his nerves. Once Bobby was back it was like he was a different person. However we did come across a small scare when a small yellow flashing tape sign started flashing on the screen of the HDV camera. Hollie tried her best to rewind the tape to find extra tape but it wasnt looking good. We started to worry that we wernt going to get a finished result from our filming of Bobby. However James came to save the day and was able to fix the camera tape by working over pervious old tape last years class pupils had left. With that we were all relieved that we could further experiment with the filming. Bobby wanted to do re-takes and try different motions of filming, such as only focusing on the face,hands, without the guitar, from a side view and then finally him playing the guitar. By late afternoon we were satisfied with what we had achieved and called it a day.

We said our thanks to Bobby for letting us film him and film in his house and said to him we will keep him up dated about the filming and even mentioned the 'Woscars' to him saying it would be a good idea for him to maybe attend it. Now that the filming part of Bobby was complete we could now work around some basic artist work and fill in the filming gaps with more filming of different scenes and locations.

Filming Schedule

This is are time table for our filming:

Wednesday 13th- Canteen Scene

Friday 15th-Holliw solo pj scene
Saturday 16th

Sunday 17th- Bobby Alexander-all shots
- Boy (James) drinking and walking about.
- Intro to Hollie and James

Monday 18th- Rejected holding hands scene.
- Hug scene

Wednesday 20th- Break up

Thursday 21st- Time passing-Calendar
(Possible coffee on bench)-Chris's art room
Thursday 26th-Bedroom scene
-Answer phone(James 'hello')
-Girl (Hollie)Y.M.C.A hostel

Weather Reports in Brighton for filming.

We are all going down to Brighton on the 17th October to film a huge part of our filming. We will be travelling by car and spending the majority of the day down there. We will be filming Bobby’s Alexander’s appearances in the video, which will take part in his flat.
These are the weather reports for this chosen day.
Sunday, October 17th, 2010
Overnight Temperature: 8°C
Clear.


Sunday Morning Temperature: 9°C
Sunny.


Sunday Afternoon Temperature: 14°C
Sunny.


Sunday Evening Temperature: 10°C
Clear with cloudy periods.


With these trusty weather reports the filming should be successful and we will hopefully film a good stage of our music video.

Textual Analysis of Music Videos By the Group

Bruno Mars- Just the way you are.
Group Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk

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The genre of music that Bruno Mars belongs to is acoustic pop as his music is upbeat yet soulful. He has broad characteristics of belonging in this genre as he has the typical look such as a warm and inviting voice and image. He is wearing a trilby hat which is very well known for artist like him to wear. The video has sun light in the background and the environment he is in is a lay back open space apartment. The relationship between lyrics and visuals is very capturing. The special effects that has been used such as using the cassette tape to create images connects with the lyrics as Bruno Mars is trying to demonstrate how perfect his girlfriend is and express his feelings for her. Such when he sings ‘when I see you face, there’s not a thing I would change, coz your amazing, just the way you are’. Bruno Mars can make you feel as if you believe his as he is either singing it towards the camera towards you to from a two shot of him and his girlfriend when he says it to her with complete eye contact. Another time when lyrics connects to visuals is when he makes the cassette tape into a pair of dreamy eyes at this point he is singing ‘her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like there not shining’ this is effective way to express the lyrics and make them memorable.

The relationship between music and visuals is portrayed in many different ways in this music video. Such as at the very beginning the girl sitting on the sofa is listening to the song that is about to be sang to her. The visual side to this is you can hear the song before its even started. When Bruno Mars pulls the tape out of the cassette and creates pictures out of it the moment after he has written his name he makes a drum to connect to the drum you can hear in the music, he then starts to flick it to give the visual effect that he is making the sound himself. Other times when the music links with the visual side of the video is with other musical instruments made into pictures out of the cassette tape such as Bruno Mars making a bell and pretending to ding it, also the tape is made into him playing the piano then gradually the tape fades out and the camera moves up and Bruno Mars is actually playing a real piano. Its very attention-grabbing and different. The pace of the actual beat of the song doesn’t change much, its upbeat and calm through most of the video.

The record company are looking to sell this record to a audience in the age of older teenagers such as 14 to an older audience. As the song is upbeat, fun and relaxing it can reach a much broader audience. The image of the artist is being portrayed as a relaxing, charming and romantic guy. This video is completely different to any of Bruno Mars other videos as in the other videos he has been in he has only be a feature. Now he has done his first own video he can set on how he wants to be portrayed. However when Bruno Mars was a feature in ‘B.o.B’ -‘Nothing on you’ he sings about how beautiful a certain girl is. This can link back to ‘Just the way you are’ as he talks about how beautiful his girlfriend is and how perfect she is.

The only small amount of sexual display that is in this video is how the female actor is naturally beautiful and how Bruno Mars expresses it and notifies it. She does in a way become a sex symbol. This is noticeable due to lots of close ups of her face and the length of time the camera is on her for. Overall I can conclude that Bruno Mars has been able to set up an acoustic image for himself by his type of song, image and video features.

Inset PICTURE

Textual Analysis of Music Videos By Jaime

The Fray- How to Save a Life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY2INQnmRyk&ob=av2n

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The band The Fray are a very popular well known band for it’s moving songs and catchy lyrics. The band genre is acoustic indie. The characteristics that the band are well known for is playing there own instruments and becoming very involved and moved by there songs. This song and music video is very powerful and emotional due to both the music (lyrics) and the video.

The relationship between the lyrics and the visual side of the video is that by my first expression of the actual title song then my first reaction to the video is medical. This is because the band is set in a plain white studio which can symbolise cleanness or even heaven which contradicts to ‘how to save a life’. I believe that the meaning of the song is about helping your friends out when they need you most if they have a drug addiction, dying or going through a break up. When ever the main singer of The Fray sings ‘Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend’ the shot is always of someone on there own. This can portray loneliness when you need someone the most in your life. The actual lyrics of the song are sad and emotional, so its no surprise that in the music video there are actors crying and screaming out to someone. Such as when a young girl is crying out for her mother. Or when a young girl is crying over her dad, I can identify this as when the girl looks up a small amount of text saying ‘dad’ goes past her face. I can guess that her dad has died and she is looking up to heaven for him.

Through out the music video words become a visual side to the video as the director of the video has included small and large amount of text saying words such as ‘Touch’,’Smile’,’Love’ and ‘Breath’ these then become both eye catching to the audience as when there eyes catch a glimpse of the word they automatically read it, by then their mind has processed it to what they think the video is meant to mean by those certain words. It’s a very effective way to capture the audience and their minds. 

 Enter Picture

The relationship between music and visuals is that at first you can hear a piano being played and when you can see a blurred figure playing it you automatically think it’s the band. Throughout the whole of the music video the band The Fray play all of the instruments giving the audience something to think about. At first the beat of the song is slow and calm, however the beat starts to pick up and with that the visual side of the video becomes quicker and faster. The cuts are quicker and the movement of the actors are faster.  When there is just instrumental being played the visual effects are slower and have a much calmer sense about it. As the music is such a powerful slow song the visual side of the video such as the plain white backgrounds and the actors having such emotional expressions on their faces gives the audience a chance to think about what is actually going on and what is the sense and emotions in this certain type of video.

The record company are aiming this track at a very wide audience as its such as the grow of acoustic singers is widening. However I believe that this track is targeted at mid aged teenagers to an much older aged group. Anyone can enjoy this type of music and song especially if they feel connect with it. Such as when you’re feeling down you do listen to slow songs as you are just in the type of mood. This type of video is different to other Fray music videos, however only in slight ways such as the plain backgrounds and the use of text. Key things that is similar in other music videos is that The Fray often play their instruments in there videos also the mood in most of The Fray’s videos are near the same. However ‘How to save a life’ is far more moving and emotional.

There is no sexual reference in ‘How to save a life’ as it’s not that kind of song Hip hop and R n B are more sexual and use women as sexual objects. Overall I can conclude that The Fray are a more emotional and relative to there target audience which can be anyway as there songs can express emotions that any can go through. They are a very talented acoustic band.    

Storyboard for Music Video

Textual Analysis of Music Video’s By Jiame

Miley Cyrus-The Climb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2zyeVRcbs

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This is one on of Miley Cyrus’s first proper music videos. This music video is for her release of the first actual film that she stars in being one of the main characters. Adding to this she does the main theme tune song to the film ‘The Climb’ I believe that this type of music lyrics and video appeals to a more pop genre as its very girly and young. The type of audience that this type of music will attract is young teenagers as Miley Cyrus previously had her own TV show ‘Hannah Montana’ which was broadcasted on Disney channels which is targeted to a younger audience.

The relationship between lyrics and the visual side of the video is that the whole video is meant to me Miley’s dream, so when she sings ‘I can almost see it, that dream I’m dreaming’ the visual side of it is that its meant to look unreal and mysterious as you can see from the image above. When Miley is walking through her ‘dream’ in an empty field she sings ‘ I feel lost with no direction’ which portrays that in her dream she doesn’t know where she is going but she has to get somewhere. As Miley Cyrus is promoting her new film there is a consistent display of film clips during her music video. This links in with the visuals side of when Miley is standing in front of a cinema screen with the numbers counting down from 5 to 1. In the actual music video there is about three different scenes of Miley performing, one when she is expressing her dream and walking down a road, 2 when she is playing her guitar in a effects room that looks like a tunnel and 3 with her standing against a backdrop just singing. The constant change of environment’s means that the audience are visually interested in what’s going on.

The relationship between music and the visuals in the beginning of the video is that the opening is just a piano solo playing while you can see Miley walking through a field on a open path. When Miley gets into the chorus of the song the build up gets louder and Miley then picks up her guitar and starts to play while singing along. The music becomes more up beat and energetic. By the time the music video is half way through the build up to the chorus gets even louder as the visual effects are horses running in front of Miley in her dream to give an even bigger effect drums are being played, perhaps to symbolise the hoofs of the horses on the ground.

The overall image of Miley Cyrus in this type of music video is that she is a well behaved young woman. This is the director’s aim as the target audience are mainly young girls that look up to Miley as a role model. In the video Miley is being proceeded as independent individual. This sort of video is completely different to anything Miley has done before as it’s a slow moving song, unlike what she performs in ‘Hannah Montana’ which is very hip hop/pop. This video can symbolise her growing up and developing into a mature type of music background.
There is no reference that this type of music video leads Miley to look like a sex symbol on display. The image that does come across however is attractiveness in her personality by being confident and smart.

Overall I conclude that Miley Cyrus in ‘The Climb’ music video represents her ‘climbing’ to be a different person and separating from her old cheesy pop teen image. She oozes independence with an acoustic and talented vocal range. The special effects in the video weren’t to extreme but enough to make it visually capturing.

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Bobby Alexander's house

Focus Group

Focus Group.

in our focus group which consisted of 2 females and 2 males.  we asked 5 crucial questions to help us create the best music video of our song. these are the results we calculated from there answers:

what do you think about acoustic music?

all 4 of our focus group agreed they likes acoustic music, in varying degrees. 2 of our group ( one male, one female) enjoyed acoustic music alot more then the other two saying that acoustic music was in there top 3 if not their favourite genre of music.  the second female liked acoustic music quite alot but preferred more pop styled music and the other gentleman preferred heavier music over the acoustic sound but if he's in the mood he likes it.

what do you value more in a music video a story line or a performance?

both of the females in our focus group believe that a storyline makes a better music video over a performance as it makes a better watch. one of the males preferred performance however the last member of the focus group and other male could not decide between the two each had their merits.

what do you expect from a video of that genre?

from our research we concluded that a music videos for an acoustic musician work best with a storyline. as watching a musician strum on a guitar can become tedious after a few minutes and makes it more likely to change channel.  unlike a band dynamic there is only one member and the music tends to be more subdued and slow paced meaning there is less likely to be shot changes and visual stimulence. 

what platform are you most likely to watch this video?

all 4 members of the focus group agreed that they would watch their music video on youtube over any other platform.

Story Board Write Up by James

Intro- Bobby Alexander just standing behind a microphone with a standard white background, creating quite a stripped back beginning of a music video, cut straight to him strumming the intro chords with an extreme close up. Then a further straight cut to a girl looking nervously down at her feet and a boy looking straight into the camera

At the beginning of the first lyric it cuts to Bobby still strumming and singing along with a mid shot possibly zooming into just his mouth singing the words. To incorporate the style in which we try to convey as much emotion as possible

You say that I dont know you like I think I do,

Cuts straight to a boy and girl sitting in bed when the boy tries to look/make contact with the girl but she just turns away followed by a look of dismay on the boys faceAnd that I might not love you if I only knew,

Bobby tapping his foot with maybe just a wooden stool behind him to still show the simplicity of the studioThere's a different (A further  extreme close up on bobby singing, maybe showing a different angle to his mouth to create a bit of  variation)side to you (couple walking through a park side by side, camera mid shot with good weather to create a general sense of well being)that I've never seen,But how (he tries to hold her hand but she moves it away as quick as possible creating unrest between the characters) can I love you if you never let me in?
 (Just a normal close up of bobby singing, yet again from a different angle to create more variation)You belong (extreme close up on the strumming of a guitar) here beside (tries to hold her but she keeps trying to escape) me, never (she gives in to him holding her, cut to mid shot to show unrest between the two of them in uneasy hold) let me go.
I will be (close up of face to try to put across the emotion he/they are going through) here waiting, (him in the same position as before but zooming out to show in actual fact there is no one there)just like I was before. (boy swigs from bottle of alcohol, almost in desperation)
 (Girl at home sitting or laying in bed never still making it blatently obvious something is on her mind, Boy walking down a long path by himself, into the sunset or dusk to almost signify he knows its coming to an end, cuts to a close up of the girl looking away/out of a window just before the next verse starts)

(cuts to a mid face of Bobby singing)Dragging my feet ( mid shot of boy walking – straight cut- close up of boys feet walking)  as I slowly stumble home. (cut again to boys face maybe a close up moving to mid shot of boy looking up to sky and breathing in, almost in a contemplative state)I take in a deep breath,( Cuts to girl looking out of the window, maybe being driven somewhere? Could imply she is going to see him?) the cold night air burns (boy still in original place and as he breathes out he looks down) My Lungs ( Girls playing with fingers and toes in a nervous state of anitciaption)
Thinking about the walk home on (Close up of the boy looking before he crosses the road, almost hoping that she’d turn up) that very first night (girl in oversized top texting away possible extreme close up of what shes texting to him)
You gave me your number (Mid Shot  of bobby playing guitar maybe from a side view)and you mesages made me (boy checks his phone and see’s a message from the girl before breaking into a smile) smile. (straight cut to girls face who pulls a painful/sad smile, possible extreme close up moving to a close up of bobbys face as he starts to sing) 

(Mid shot of boy and girl in kitchen)You belong (girl passes boy toast but avoids eye contact at all times, some sort of barrier in between them) here beside me, (girls walks off possibly out of a door whilst boy still looks confused) never let me go (bobby looking directly into the camera singing)I will be (the couple sitting on a bench he tries to put her arm round her but she just turns away) here waiting, (cut straight back to bobby singing) just like (asks her what’s wrong)I was (couple still on bench while she remains silent) before.
 

(Shot reverse shot of girl looking at boy then boy staring back with almost willing eyes, cuts to an eyeline match extreme close up of guy looking at girl biting her lip, extreme close up of bobby strumming the guitar, possibly shot from down the guitar to show the vibrations, Bobby singing from side shot with clever use of light to now show a prominent light and dark sides to reflect their relationship. Girl tucks hair behind ear trying to keep no eye contact the whole time. Possible fade with bobby playing guitar in the foreground whilst tears start to drip down from the girls eyes)So long, (girl mouths take care)take care,(Bobby goes from mid shot to close up for the words ‘take care’) goodbye.(boy sits there in complete shock)So long,(Cut back to Bobby singing in the same shot as before) take care, (mid shot of girl picking up bag and slowly walking away) goodbye. (Where are you going? I dont know, I dont care.)
So long, take care, goodbye. (Where are you going? I dont know, I dont care.)
So long, take care, goodbye. (Where do you go?) ( break up scene in which boy runs after her grabs her arm pleading her not to go, she yells at him telling him to go- over the shoulder shot, she starts walking away and only looks back once- when the camera cuts to over the shoulder again so we can focus from her tears on her face to the boy standing in the back ground, Bobby strums passionately and sings before the final shot before the final verse of the boys POV shot from the floor to give an idea of perspective and distance)

(cuts to mid shot of Bobby Singing) 
You belong here  (side close up of bobbys head singing)beside me,.(boy stands still as time passes by) never let me go
I will be here waiting, (back to bobby singing and strumming away) just like I was before.(mid-long shot of girl looking at her phone)I can hear (long shot of girl just sitting there crying as she looks out of the window in an almost uni style room) you crying (extreme close up of girl dialling the boys phone and putting it up to her ear)but you're so far away.( boy says hello twice in anticipation, a smile starts to show)Since you left, goodbye ( girl keeps lips pursed and doesn’t say a word as she doesn’t know what to say) is all I can hear you say. (boy keeps trying to say hello as the original smile slowly fades, song ends up with bobby singing yet again into an older style mic, the boy hangs up before the girl bursts out crying in floods of tears. The video ends a close up moving to an extreme long shot of the boy then the girl and finally bobby as he does his last strum!!!!)

reccie shots of wisley

Reccie Shots of Woking Collage Canteen