Location - part two

Apart from filming in a woodland area, I also want to film a few short scenes in a house made out to be the personas. I don't just want to film in a random house as it may not have the lighting and ambience that I'm looking for. I want to film in an old fashioned home that has a very vintage feel. The image below is from weheartit.com but it just portrays the atmosphere that i want to create in the particular scenes.



However, I may find it difficult to find a place like this as I will need to get permission from an owner. It would be safer to film round someone's house who I am familiar with e,g, family and friends. My own home could be idealistic with a few changes. These could easily be made by moving furniture, adding small objects etc. Below is a picture which could give the effect of a miserable environment. I don't want my audience to feel miserable when watching the video but I want them to respond in a way that they can recognise the emotions within the song and video. Courtesy of weheartit.com.

SMART Targets

I'm setting myself some targets to ensure that my blog is up to it's highest standards. These are:

- Keep time management
- Take basic posts and turn them into proficient or excellent ones
- Start concentrating on production more than research now
- Find cast
- Find out what equipment I will need
- Write out a proper narrative

Mark Criteria

Marking Criteria

Chosen Song and Copyright

So as I said in my 'script ideas' post my chosen song is Gabrielle Aplin - Ghosts. This song is a very personal song to her and I want to be able to portray those feelings in the video. Obviously because I can't have her starring in the video I'm going to get another girl to star in it. It will be made obvious to the audience that it is not Gabrielle herself. To the audience, it will be like watching a scene from a movie - the character is acting out to represent the audio. By doing this it will really give the video a more narrative response.

After sending a message to Gabrielle Aplin, I simply asked her if I could use her song in my project and I politely stated that if I didn't get a reply then I would need to proceed with using her video. Since not getting a reply, I will be able to use her song for my project. I checked before hand with a few people to check that this was okay.

Location Ideas - Part One

Reading through my draft script idea I want to film the majority of the video in the woods. In Norwich there are plenty of places to film. One place which I know very well would be perfect for filming. Mousehold Heath, situated around Heartsease and Sprowston is my first choice as there are many secluded areas which is just what I need for the filming.

The above pictures perfectly portray the ambience that I want to create in my video. I want it to feel mysterious and haunting.

The second location that I found is a well-known public park in Old Catton called Catton Park. It's a very vast piece of land and is surrounded by a small area of woodland. It isn't my first choice but looking at photo's it does have a haunting feeling to it. My only concern is that it will not fit in with my criteria.

Looking at the two locations I am drawing towards filming in Mousehold Heath as it has all the elements that I am looking for. It's also a much larger location so there is more variety in the places that I can film.
In the second part of the post I will be looking at different locations to film the indoor scene in. Preferably I want to find someone's house which has a very vintage feel to it. I need good lighting and I need space to be able to film in good depth.

Ideas for digipak covers

Just to clarify, a Digipak is used mainly for CD singles or special editions of CD albums. The style of a digipak differs from a normal CD case (Jewel Cases) as they typically consist of a gatefold paperboard or card stock outer binding. These cases are capable of holding more than one plastic tray to hold the CD/DVD.

All of the above pictures represent the genre of music that my music video will feature.

Script Ideas for video

Looking back at my research I know that my target market would prefer a narrative video that tells a story rather than one that has no point. The song I have chosen to promote is the song "Ghosts by Gabrielle Aplin". The song is a very dark yet beautiful song and the main theme is about feeling alone. It could be due to heartbreak, arguments etc. I want to incorporate the feeling of not knowing to the audience. I want them to have an active mind and be able to figure out when she's heartbroken or whether it's something else. It creates the mystery.

In the beginning I would like to have the main persona (female character) to be standing alone in the woods and to lip sync to the first few lines looking quite sad yet powerful. Throughout the first verse which is up to 0:43 I want her to wander round the woods and be looking over her shoulder like someone is following her. She needs to portray paranoia. When the chorus kicks in I need to up the anti and make her start running. She trips and laying next to her is a note it will be along the lines of "feeling alone." She gets up and as she does it reaches a flashback where she's in her room crying and throwing things off her bed. Some things she throws will be a clue as to why she's upset - photo's, gifts etc. At the end of the second verse she's hysterically crying and burning a picture.f It shows she's heartbroken but it will take an active audience to work it out. When it comes back to the chorus she's running again and passes a shadow of a man. She stops and turns back and he's gone. When the lyrics start "I'm pulling pictures of the wall.." she runs back to her house and trashes her room again. Near the end of the video she sings the end lyrics into the camera and then it jumps back to a clip of her sitting in a ball and then a hand comes out and offers to help her up. You're not too sure who it is though.

This is just a rough draft of the narrative and I will develop on it further once I have actors and locations sorted.

Adverts in magazines

Recently I was looking through NME magazine and there were so many adverts for album promotion. NME magazine targets around the same market as me so it would be really good to put Gabrielle Aplin's album advert in that magazine. The magazine special editions were called NME Originals, with some featuring articles from other music titles owned by IPC, including Melody Maker, Rave and Uncut magazines. Notable issues so far have featured Radiohead, The Beatles, Punk rock, Gothic rock, Britpop, The Rolling Stones, Mod, Nirvana, and the solo years of The Beatles. NME is ready for a singer-songwriter like Gabrielle Aplin. She's fresh and would appeal to the target market who read NME.

Prezi of Florence and the Machine

I created a prezi of a deconstruction of Florence and the Machine's new album cover as it fits into the same genre I want to create and it will help me get an idea of what I want to create. I also looked into the advertising strategies that she has to promote her album so that I know the best exhibition methods for my advert.



The album cover seems to suit Florence Welch perfectly. It looks very much like her kind of style (fashionable, mysterious etc). To understand how to get my album cover looking representative to the artist, I have looked at the entire production of a digipak and what I need to do to get the same response. Pullouts in the album with lyrics give the target market a wider range of media. It seems to help them understand the songs which may give them more interest in the artists' songs. In Florence's album, "Ceremonials" English novelist Emma Forrest contributed an essay to the album which can be found in the CD edition. This could draw in a particular audience as they may be interested in Emma Forrest but maybe not Florence Welch. A whole production team is involved in creating a digipak. There is the production team who actually produces the album's songs etc. (Label) and then it is sent to a distributor who will help with the process of releasing the digipak. Universal Music Group produces and distributes their own music and then exhibits it in a magazine or poster etc. However, with Florence's label "Label Fandango", the no-budget record company has a strictly DIY theme to it, with the tag line "No frills, All thrills". Inspired by other indie labels Transgressive, Marquis Cha Cha and Dance To The Radio, it specialises in limited edition seven-inch vinyls, released in a generic black and while sleeve branded with the "Label Fandango" logo. It compliments its Fierce Panda parent, who recently ceased producing limited singles to focus on full length releases. The records are designed to project bands on to further opportunities with more major record labels, examples being Royworld and Air Traffic (who have since signed to Virgin Records and Tiny Consumer of EMI respectively).The label has released 24 limited edition singles to date.

Second Questionnaire Results

I asked this question purely for the fact that there was no point in asking people who were not in my target market. Luckily they all were so my results will be very useful. 

The majority of the target market like to get involved when watching music videos so they like to see a storyline which is just right for my plot idea. 

With everyone that I asked saying that they love to know the meaning of the song  or video  it will be great for me to add a narrative that relates to the meaning of the song. It will give those with an active mind the chance to become active. 

Luckily with having a music video that relates to the song it will help my target market understand the song a lot more and they will be able to relate to the lyrics. 

The point of this questionnaire was so that I could find out what kind of narrative to do that will allow my target market to enjoy it. They want to see something that will let them relate to the lyrics and be able to think about what is happening in the narrative.

My Second Questionnaire on Audience Types

I chose this layout to make it appeal to both genders of my target market. I asked 4 simple questions which I am sure will get me the final information I need for my market research.

Audience Types and Deconstruction of a music video

There are many different types of audience so I had to look at my research carefully to come to an appropriate conclusion. By choosing 17 - 22 year olds of both genders it widens the market for Gabrielle Aplin (the artist I have chosen). However, there is one other aspect that I must consider and that is whether my audience will have an active mind when watching the music video - meaning they will be engaged in the video and want to work out exactly what is happening - or will they have a passive mind, meaning will they just sit back and watch the video and absorb the video how it is. I want my audience to engage in the music video so I am preferably looking for an audience with an active mind. A music video that does use this state of mind is Ed Sheeran - Lego House;

CLICK HERE to view Ed Sheeran - Lego House music video

At first the audience recognises the main character in the video as Rupert Grint. You begin to notice in the video that he's playing Ed Sheeran because of their similar looks. While watching the video at first you will have a passive mind as it just looks like Rupert Grint miming to the song dressed as Ed. However, as the video progresses you see that not only is Rupert an impersonator but he's obsessed with Ed Sheeran and is trying to live the same life as him; in other words he's in love. But you really have to watch the video and get involved with the situation as it just drastically changes. For someone that has a passive mind they would just take the video as it is and not understand the true meaning behind the song and the video. There are some shots in the video that help the audience to work out the enigma. For example, when Rupert Grint is holding a picture frame you wonder what it's of. Then later on in the video a panning shot shows you slowly of who the picture is of. It gives a more dramatic effect.

I want my music video to have the same effect on the audience as Ed Sheeran's did. I want them to realise the meaning and mystery behind the song. To find out whether my audience had an active or passive mind I created another short questionnaire.

Exhibition for Album Promotions.

Artists and bands first get noticed by doing small gigs in a local bar or event. However, they still need a marketing plan to get them noticed. An effective marketing plan must be done in the right way. They will need to know where to promote the artist/band. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are the best ways to get people noticing music nowadays. Also, Youtube is a great way to get talent noticed e.g. Conor Maynard and even Justin Bieber. Most artists/bands conventionally get their albums promoted in a popular magazine or on television. My research, however, indicates that this is an effective instrument for publication and promotion. I need to investigate exhibition and distribution methods in more detail. I will most likely do another small questionnaire to debate which fashion magazine to publish it in.

Questionnaire Results