Inspiration

This album, “On my own” by Yasmin has a variety of different album covers that all have a running theme. Each image has been edited into black and white which contrasts the coloured paintbrush effect of her initial. I think this is very effective as her initial stands out but it doesn’t obstruct the audience’s view of the image. The use of a bold bright colour contrasting the image shows reference to the genre (pop) however she hasn’t over powered the cover by using too much colour like most pop artists do;  She has used a simplistic style.  Her bold initial looks as if she has written it herself with a paintbrush, this makes the album more personal which could relate to or have significance to her album. In addition, as a plain black and white background is used she looks quite isolated and this links in with the album name ‘On my own’.

I would like to use these album covers as my inspiration because I think they work really well and will also fit with my artist and the genre of pop. I could use the running theme of the coloured initial in a paintbrush effect over black and white images through each section of my digipack to ensure I get the same effect that Yasmin has achieved. 

CD Cover Analysis

Cd cover analysis from sammyjamesx

Our Location

We have decided to film our music video in Liv's house as its perfect for the cute doll house look. Most of the shots will be filmed in the kitchen as it will go with the narrative. Filming inside makes it a lot easier for us as we wont have to worry about the weather/lighting and will be able to film at any time. 

Digipak Research

Here I have selected some album covers/images of how I would like to represent my artist. Personally I think these covers all show a similar style and fits with the same music genre as mine. Using a mid shot of the artist, Millie Evans, on my album cover would attract the audience’s attention instantly as her face would be the first thing they see. Each of these album covers use either a black and white or neutral image with very minimum contrasting coloured text. This simplicity of the text used works as it emphasis the image giving it a very strong and bold feel.

Styling

We have decided to dress our artist in this Lazy Oaf t-shirt as it’s very casual and appropriate to wear around the house. Originally we were going to use Lily Allen’s style as our inspiration but because she wears a dress and heels in her video me and liv came to an agreement that it would look too ‘dressy’ to wear around the house. This t-shirt also runs with the same cartoon feel due to the image of the ice-cream and will make our artist, Milly Evans, play more of the part in our video.

To do list

Here is a list of the things we need to do before we can shoot our music video:
1) Buy puppet (Alfie)
2) Organise costumes and make-up - (if necessary buy a dress)
3) Bring props together such as brightly coloured house accessories
4) Organise a shot list - categorise into the correct scenes
5) Rent out a camera

Risk Assessment

For this section I am identifying the risks that could possibly occur whilst producing our music video. This will help us plan more in advance and help us recognise any obstacles that may get in the way of filming or be a hazard to someone getting injured. Below is the risk assessment I have constructed -

Hazard - Fall of people participating/equipment
Answer - Yes
Severity - 6/10
Likelihood - Low
Persons at risk - Everyone in the participation of the music video being made
Precautions - Minimise the chance of somebody falling or hurting themselves by planning exactly what they have to do in advance and how it will work. Also make sure all equipment is stable and secure such as all the house objects safely positioned on top of things or against things.

Hazard - Weapons
Answer - No
Severity - 0/10
Likelihood - N/A
Persons at risk - N/A
Precautions - N/A

Hazard - Tripping
Answer - Yes
Severity - 5/10
Likelihood - Medium
Persons at risk - People taking part in the video or people filming (Liv & Sammy)
Precautions: Warn eachother when wires are around the set and also any other obstacles or props which are left out. Ensure only objects needed in the scene are used and that all other areas are clear.

Hazard - Vehicles
Answer - No
Severity - 0/10
Likelihood - N/A
Persons at risk - N/A
Precautions - N/A

Hazard - Temporary structures
Answer - Yes
Severity - 6/10
Likelihood - Low
Persons at risk: Our actress when on the set and being filmed
Precautions: ensure that all props and structures we set up are safe such as an iron board being up on the side of the wall

Representations in our music video

Who- In our music video there will be two characters; the main one being the artist, Milly Evans, and the other being a puppet called Alfie acting as Milly’s brother. Due to our song choice of a silly waltz rap, Milly will be singing to her brother and about her brother. This is significant to the song as it fits with the lyrics.

What- We have been inspired by other videos to make our music video look like a Looney Tunes episode. We are therefore going to use the same opening and closing parodies of Looney Tunes videos e.g ‘Merrie Melodies’. The main part of the video will consist of Milly acting out the lyrics and trying to persuade Alfie to stop wasting his life away. There will also be many shots of the puppet doing these things that Milly doesnt want him doing.

Where- We have decided to locate our video in a house using the settings of the bedroom and the kitchen. However to make our video look interesting we are going to use bright colours in these rooms. We will do this by changing the bedding and adding bright accessories.

Why- We have chosen to locate our video in a house and use a basic narrative so that the visuals go with the lyrics. We also thought it would make it easier for ourselves if we locate the video inside as we wont have to mess around with the lighting or any other sounds. We can also shoot the video at any time and if we make any mistakes they will be easy enough to correct. Furthermore, by limiting ourselves to these settings we can focus more on using a variety of shots and styling the artist and the house. We didnt want to use a complex narrative as it would confuse the audience so we have therefore kept it simple but sweet.

How- By using our story board, schedule list and risk assessment we will be able to create our video more effectively as we can overcome any problems we think we will face. When we are shooting we will organise the shots into the correct scenes so that we can save time instead of working through the shots in order. We will aso practice a few shots from each scene beforehand so we know how they will turn out.

Feedback

After showing our pitch to the class we have received a lot of positive feedback. We haven’t over complicated anything and on paper our ideas seem to work well together. However one thing we have had to think about it is how we are going to construct a puppet into our music video as positioning the puppet and moving it in time with the song could be tricky. We have thought about having the puppet on strings but it also might ruin the video if the strings are visible. We have discussed that we could add something else instead of a puppet like a young child but without the puppet the narrative will not make sense.  We will therefore have to do our best to hide the strings and move the puppet in time with the song.  

Examples of other texts

This video 'Foundations' by Kate Nash fits very well with our genre and the look we are going for. This video uses a silly waltz rap just like our song choice, 'Alfie' by Lily Allen as well as the focus being on a female artist in a household setting. This video is entertaining and fun which is what we aim to do when making our music video. 

This video is a good example of the type of props we will be using in our music video. There are puppets and animations used which makes this video, 'Happy Ending' by Mika look interesting and appealing. There are also shots in this video that we will also be using such as the close up shots of the moving puppets and the transitions used. Even though our song choice is quite upbeat we are looking to use slower camera movements like this video. 

'Oh No' by Marina and the Diamonds is another good example of the genre we are focusing on. The colours that are used in this video is the main aspect we like about this as the bright colours create a very vibrant look and feel. This emphasis the genre 'mainstream-pop'. 

Audience Profile

We thought it would be appropriate to look into audience profile's so that we can get a clear view of who our music video would appeal to. 

Name: Hannah Wood
Age: 19
Occupation: Works in Selridges-Topshop
Studying Fashion Management at Birminham University

Lucy listens to artists such as Lily Allen, Two Door Cinema Club, Ellie Goulding, Lenka, Florence and the Machine, Lana Del Rey, Marina and the diamonds and The Vaccines. Her favourite shops are Topshop, Urban Outfitters, Lazy Oaf, Zara, River Island and Office. She likes to keep up to date with new trends from the highstreet shops as well as experiementing with vintage clothing from unknown stores near her university. In her spare time she has a shabby chic business where she makes home little gifts such as cushions and fabric decorations and sells them online on ebay and her own blog page. She enjoys socialises with her friends and going to the 02 academy arena to listen to new and current music. As she has has her own blog she is frequently on the internet. This is where she watches music videos by her favourite artists and artists that she hasn't come across before. 

Moodboard

Biography- Milly Evans

Milly Evans, born on 12^th November 1990 is an English recording artist, actress and fashion designer. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved alternative pop but after she had abandoned school, she focused on her music and concentrated on improving her performing skills. Afterwards, she created several demo songs and, near the end of 2007, she published videos on youtube and made some of her recordings public.

A contract was signed with the label Regal Recordings, as the views on youtube rose to tens of thousands. In 2009, she began to work on completing what would be her first studio album and its first mainstream single "Anything" reached the top position on the UK Singles Chart. Her debut record, “The Fear”, was well received on the international market, selling over 2.6 million copies and brought Allen a nomination at the Grammy Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.

Her second major album release, “Wake up Darling” saw a genre shift for her, having more of a mainstream pop feel, rather than the alternative influence. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the Australian ARIA Charts and was appreciated by the critics, noting the singer's musical evolution and maturity. It spawned the hit singles "Don’t Be Shy" and "Secret Door", popular mostly in Europe.

Our Song and It's Lyrics

The following are the lyrics to the track and this is something that we'll have to take into consideration when incorporating ideas into our final video; Ooh deary me My little brother's in his bedroom smoking weed I tell him he should get up ?cause it's nearly half past three He can't be bothered ?cause he's high on THC I ask him very nicely if he'd like a cup of tea I can't even see him 'cause his room is so smoky Don't understand how one can watch so much TV My baby brother Alfie how I wish that you could see I only say it cause I care So please can you stop pulling my hair Now now there's no need to swear Please don't despair my dear mon frère Ooh Alfie get up it's a brand new day I just can't sit back and watch you waste your life away You need to get a job because the bills need to get paid Get off your lazy arse Alfie please use your brain Surely there's some walls out there that you can go and spray I'm feeling guilty here for leading you astray Now how the hell do you ever expect that you'll get laid When all you do is stay in playin' your computer games I only say it cause I care So please can you stop pullin my hair Now now there's no need to swear Please don't despair my dear mon frère Oh little brother please refrain from doing that I'm trying to help you out so can you stop being a tw*t It's time that you and I sat down and had a little chat And look me in the eyes take off that stupid fitted cap I only say it cause I care So please can you stop pulling my hair Now now there's no need to swear Please don't despair Please don't despair My mon frère

Artist Name Ideas

First Names
Ava
Lily
Milly
Esme
Talia
Lulu
Ali

Last Names
Carter
Harp
Evans
Oliver
White

We were unsure whether to stick to just a first name like artists such as Beyonce, Lenka, Rihanna and Birdy to make the artist’s name  more catchy and memorable or whether to use include her last name such as Ellie Goulding and Kate Nash. But after discussing about it we came to a decision that we shall call our artist 'Milly Evans'. The reason behind this is that we wanted to keep her name quite simple and regular like our inspiration ‘Lily Allen’. If we had used more of a unique name it would have been quite hard to make our music video match her as an artist due to our song choice of ‘Alfie’. This song isn’t a powerful or strong song and it therefore wouldn’t suit an artist with a strong name. We also thought the name sounded ‘short and sweet’ and would go with the visuals of our music video.

Song Title

After taking a few songs into consideration for our final piece, as a pair we made a decision together on a song that we feel could let us develop a range of ideas in the build up to creating the final piece. The song that we have chosen to film our final piece to is 'Alfie' by 'Lily Allen'. Choosing this song also means sticking closely to our chosen genre of 'mainstream pop'.

Genre Of Music

After choosing a variety of different videos to analyse for the research and planing, deciding on a genre was something that we had to experiment with. After taking into consideration the different settings and atmospheres that would have to feature in songs of different genres, this then meant that it made it easier to straight away eliminate particular categories and genres of music. Once we had narrowed the genres down we came up with 2 genres that we feel we would both like to work with when creating the final piece. These two were, indie-pop and mainstream pop. The main reason for narrowing the choices down to these two was based on a decision revolving around the music that we are used to listening to and enjoy ourselves. After taking all our options into consideration we have chosen to pick a song that falls into the category of 'mainstream pop'. We hope to be taking inspiration from artists such as Lily Allen, Eliza doolittle, Florence and the machine and many others when thinking of ideas for our own final piece.

A2 Media Studies Schedule 2012-13 Lutterworth College