Filming Schdeule

Above, is my shooting schedule my music video. Due to work all weekend, plus other commitments during the week and the availability of my actors, this is the only day we are all free, so I aim to capture all my footage in this one day. I have documented the time we will be a the location (excluding the travel time), the location, what is being filmed at that location and what the actors will be wearing.

Video briefs: Costumes

Clothing 

• An all black outfit- For the main actress (Maritta). This will be worn in scenes where she is revisiting the places she visited with her fried when she was alive. (Black coat, hat, shoes) The idea of all black represents the mourning of the actress's friend.
  
  
  
  
  

• Normal everyday clothing- These will be worn in the flashback scenes by both the main actress and her friend 

• Black T shirt- May or may not be used, if used, will be for the performance scenes of the main actress only on the roof top car park

Props

• Phone
•  

• Bag
  
  
  

Video Brief: Locations

Storyboard

This is the story board for my music video and hopefully everything should stay on plan when we actually film. Below the numbers in each box correspond with the numbers below which give detailed explanations of what is happening in each scene and the camera shots/angles I intend to use. 

1) The first scene is of Maritta and Fatou in their first location. Here there will be talking and laughing and generally enjoying each other's company. 

Camera angles/shots:

Shot reaction shot - To show the relationship between the two and highlight how they interact with one another.

Close up - Again to emphasise their facial expressions as they communicate happily with each other 

2) Scene 2 will be a present day scene where Maritta is sat now alone on the bench, feeling depressed and lonely as her friend is not there with her.

Camera angles/shots:

Over the shoulder shot - To show the empty seat where her friend previously was and create a closer tie with the audience so they can feel closer to Maritta and her loss.

3) Moves on to second location of a restaurant setting. Maritta meets Fatou and they decide what to get on the menu and take selfies, chat etc.

Camera angles/shots:

Wide angle shot - To show the setting of where Maritta is and to also show Fatou entering the frame.

Shot reaction shot - Again to show the connection and closeness between the friends as they embrace.

Close up - Of the menu to emphasise the fact that they are ordering their favourite treats together 

4) Maritta is now in the present revisiting the restaurant, she is looking downcast and the menu is now not exciting as she lets it fall helplessly onto the table. 

Camera angles/shots:

Mid shot - To allow the audience to see that Fatou is not there anymore and also to show Maritta's sluggish demeanour now that she cannot feel the same about her favourite restaurant as her friend is absent. 

Close up - Of the menu again, but it serves as a contrast as the context and ambience of the restaurant is not the same due to Fatou not being there.

5) The final location is shopping in a makeup store, the girls are excitedly looking at the makeup and testing and showing each other the products and colours.

Camera angles/shots:

2 shot: Maritta and Fatou will be stood close to each other and the 2 shot will allow their close friendship to be clear to the audience to their proximity to one another.

Close up - Of Fatou's hand as she swatches an eyeshadow colour, the beauty and sparkle of the colour, represents her friendship with Maritta, however makeup is only temporary and washes off which also represents the situation when Fatou passes away. 

Wide shot - Used to show the location of where Fatou and Maritta are in the shop

6) Last scene, Maritta is looking at the mirror at her reflection, she is trying on some makeup, however she cannot shake the empty feeling of not being there with Fatou so she leaves the shop.

Camera angles/shots:

Over the shoulder: To see Maritta's reaction through the mirror reflection as she tries on the makeup and also to capture her emotion just before she leaves. 

Actor profiles

MARITTA

 As Beyoncé is an urban, RnB singer, I thought it would be appropriate and logical to cast someone who had an urban look about them as the lead. Maritta, fitted this image as she has big curly hair, similar to how Beyoncé often wears her hair. Acting/modelling is also something Maritta is very comfortable with and also does alongside her studies, so I could guarantee that the job would be completed and to a good standard.

FATOU

I cast Fatou as the supporting role, as like Maritta, she also has a stereotypical urban look that would help the video be easily identifiable as an RnB/Beyoncé video. Her beautiful box braids, are a hairstyle also sported by Beyonce, so viewers would associate her with a look they have also seen Beyonce wearing.

Analysis of the lyrics

This song is from Beyonce's latest album which is self titled. When I fist listened to the album, amongst the more popular, catchy songs such as Drunk in Love and XO, Heaven was the stuck which stuck with me most. I found it very relatable, and I felt the simplicity and length of the song would be perfect to take the song and explore the song in a variety of ways. 

The first verse to be directed at the person Beyonce has lost, in this case her miscarried baby. The idea that she fought, suggests it was a long battle and through the struggle she in turn became a stronger person as  a result. The "secrets" may refer to the future thoughts of her unborn chid that she'll never get to see. 

The hook, repeats the phrase "heaven couldn't wait for you" This line is almost a mantra Beyonce now lives by in order to comfort herself over what has happened. 

The line, "we laughed at the darkness" appears to be the fluster of emotions expressing themselves in the form of laughter. Often, when people are confronted with uncomfortable situations they sometimes laugh, as more of a coping mechanism as opposed to in a humorous manner. "So scared that we lost it" could be Beyonce's fear of going crazy or mental after what she has been through, this is further evidenced by the description of how they "stood on the ceilings". 

After the hook has played twice more, each time sung with more passion and intensity, the words of the 'Our Father' are spoken in spanish by a lady. This is prayer often said at funerals, and the line "Your will be done" in particular, is used again to reassure the loved ones left behind that it is part of God's will to take back that person which sometimes offers comfort to the loved ones. 

Questionnaire and Response Analysis

To help with the  research phase of my final product, I produced a questionnaire which I sent out to and was completed by 27 individuals. My aim when creating the survey was to collect information in regards to the various media products I would be creating. 

I divided the questionnaire into 4 sections the first section was focused on general questions such as age, gender and music preference whereas the latter sections were area focused on the 3 media products; A music video,a digipak and magazine advertisement.

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

SECTION 1

Q1 + 2)

The results from questions 1 and 2 show that all but 2 of my respondents were all between the 16 - 24 age bracket  with 2 over 25's. This is most likely due to the fact that the majority of the people who filled the questionnaire were my friends so, it is expected that they would fall into that age bracket. This is however a positive thing however, as my final products are aimed at that age range, so therefore their responses will be of more use to me as opposed to responses from older or younger age groups. 

The ratio of males to females who answered the question is fairly equal, this is good as it ensures views from both genders are covered, so reduces gender biased answers.

Q3)

My motive for this question was to gather a feel for the type of music the respondents like and listen to regularly. From this information, it would be easier to understand their responses to the later questions which would most likely be shaped by their views. As my music video will most likely be RnB inspired, it was very helpful to see that 70% of the respondents clicked RnB as the genre of music they listen to most, as their responses would be especially valuable. Hip/Rap was second highest with 60%, features of this genre are often intertwined with RnB so this was also good.

SECTION 2: Features of the music video

This section was centered around the music video itself and what the respondents would expect to see in an RnB style video, but also what they would like to see.

Q4)

As the majority of the respondents would not ALL have been familiar with these terms I inserted a short definition to help them. For this question more than half of the respondents opted for a "concept" video as the type of video they believed would suit an RnB inspired song. From my research of RnB music videos, I found that any one of the video styles is used and more often than not, it appears to be the lyrics of the song, which dictate the style. The response was interesting however and will be taken into consideration.

Q5)

Although I was fairly confident with with what the outcome of this particular question would be, I thought it would be safer to have it confirmed. As expected a vast majority opted for a 3-4 minute video, which is stereotypical of many music videos as it is neither too short or too long that the viewers never actually finish the video. 

Q6)

Unlike all the previous questions, this was the only open ended question in the questionnaire. I felt this style of response would be easier for the respondents to convey their answer because as I said before, the majority would not be familiar with the technical terms and may have felt intimidated had I put a list of technical terms.

Summarising the general themes of the answers and recurring answers, I gathered that most wanted a "stripped back" approach and many stated how "black and white videos" are also stereotypical of RnB and in response to editing, most were not keen on "over-editing" or anything too surreal, more smooth. A lot of people also stressed the importance of "a video that matched the lyrics", not necessarily through a narrative video but they needed to be somehow linked.   

SECTION 3: Features of a digipak/album

This section revolved around the features of the digipak

Q7) 

This was a simple question to understand what style of digipak most people would prefer. Because the majority of the respondents were about the same age as myself, the majority of us only recognize/have the standard style of 4 panel digipaks, the 85.71% result for the 4 panel digipak wasn't surprising. The final digipak will more than likely be a 4 panel, to correspond with this particular feedback.

Q8)             

The results of this question are quite varied and people seemed to want very different things. This answer was open for the respondent to choose multiple answers, as I felt just one answer would be insufficient as there are multiple features of an album cover.

The most popular answer was the artists name in large somewhere on the cover and an image of the artist also appeared to be must. The least popular was the artist's name being written in small and "additional information about the single", these options will help me when constructing the digipak.

2 people selected the "Other" option and suggested a lyric book or personal hand written message. Although these weren't suggestions I had thought of, I believe the handwritten message would be very interesting and I have seen this done in some albums which I think is a nice touch. I probably won't do the lyric book idea as I believe it would be too time consuming to complete, however it was also a good suggestion.

SECTION 4: Promotional advertisement

The questions in this section were in regards to the promo. advertisement

Q9) 

Around 78% of the respondents said they would want minimal text on the advert and the focus of the advert to be predominantly on the image of the artist. Using this information, I will take care to only include text that is essential to the single and leave out any irrelevant information.

Q10)

Again just another simple question in regards to the orientation of the advert. Most likely for 

convenience, the majority of the respondents prefered a portrait advert as opposed to a landscape one. Similarly due to the percentage, I will most likely create my advert in a portrait format.

Talk with an industry expert

During the planning stage of our work, we had a guest visit from Tobie Scopes (right) an industry expert, who shared with us his experience within the music industry and gave us very useful tips.

In terms of my music genre, Tobie explained certain features and characteristics that were apparent in many RnB music videos and album covers. He also mentioned Beyonce's use of black and white in her music videos and suggested I consider this when creating my own music video. 

He also emphasized the "little things" that would bring our products to life and add a sense of realism to them. These included barcodes, logos of sites such Twitter, Facebook etc, all of which would make my final pieces look "real".

All in all it was a very informative chat and gave valid insight into the music world from an industry expert.

Research into chosen artist :BEYONCE

I have chosen Beyonce as my artist as I am a big fan of her music and feel that she is a very talented and diverse artist, therefore there would a lot of opportunity for me to create something high quality. Beyonce is predominantly an RnB artist. However she often dabbles in elements of Pop, House and electronic sounds in order to spice up her image and add create new, interesting content. 

Audience

Beyonce's audience, tend to be females with a very wide age range. She attracts fans who are 4 years old, right up to the middle aged ladies who admire Beyoncé's image and what she stands for.

Her male audience is a lot smaller, although many will still enjoy her music, less males actively support her in terms of purchasing her goods or paying to see her live.

Image

Beyonce's image is very diverse, sometimes she embodies a more urban personality with heavy jewelry and heavy makeup, whereas other times she sports a more natural and fresh look, depending on the type of song or how she wants to portray herself. As the song I have chosen for my music video is slow and calm, I will most likely go for a laid back, natural look.

CASE STUDY: Beyonce - If I were a boy (peformance)

VIDEO

This music video for this song is mainly a narrative with elements of performance incorporated within it. The video features a role reversal in which the stereotypical gender roles are swapped, hence the title "If I Were A Boy." The video explores how things would be if men had empathy for women in relationships. The video is stripped back and filmed entirely in black white which allows the focus to be on the story told as opposed to the actors' makeup or any other distractions.

The video begins with Beyoncé and her love interest standing a against a wall reciting single words relating to relationships. During this close ups are used to show the facial expressions of each as they say these words.

Closeups are favoured in this video, to focus on the emotion and pain felt when a loved one is cheating or not giving you the attention you deserve. They are used in particular when Beyonce shuns her partner, or vice versa at the end where the roles reversed. 

As Beyoncé bustles in and out of the kitchen, practically ignoring her partner who has clearly spent time making her a breakfast (emphasized by the table full of food when the shot zooms out) a two - shot is used, in order for the audience to gage the interaction between Beyoncé and her partner. While Beyoncé remains standing, her partner sits, this symbolically represents the relationship the two share in which Beyoncé is "above her partner". The two - shot also allows the audience to focus on the difference in costume of the two individuals. Beyoncé is wearing a vest with her hair scraped back, her trousers are very practical, clear indications she is working in a very "hands on" industry which is usually associated with males. Her partner, however, is wearing a shirt, unbuttoned at the top and has time to prepare a cooked breakfast and sit down to eat, implying he either does not have a job or a less demanding one.

Throughout the video, many examples of two-shots are used to highlight the relationships (and lack of) between the characters in the video. For "masculine" Beyoncé and her man, it shows the lack of communication, love and respect. For "masculine" Beyoncé and her co-worker, the two shot is used to highlight the lust, flirtatious glances and body language between them as Beyoncé shuns her partner. The two-shot is used in regards to her partner and his female co-worker who he rejects as  attempts to seduce him. Mid-way when the roles are reversed to the stereotypical gender roles, the same two shots are used to show how Beyoncé is now the one being shunned as her partner goes to work.

A shot-reaction-shot, is used just before Beyoncé leaves for work, in which we see the disappointment of her partner's face after being shunned at breakfast. We see a close up shot as she adjusts her hat and it is then that we learn she is a police officer, which is a stereotypically male line of work.

The video ends with the gender roles back to the stereotypical. Beyonce is now the one being left at home while her partner flirts with co-workers and the video also now matches the lyrics and the viewers, expectations of affairs often being something men do as opposed to the women.

CASE STUDY: Beyonce - Pretty Hurts (concept/performance)

VIDEO

The "Pretty Hurts" music video focuses on the concept of being "pretty" and explores the lengths girls in particular, go through in order to achieve beauty and be "perfect". There are elements of a narrative video as we see Beyonce play as a pageant contestant and the steps she takes before the pageant itself, however the video is mainly tackles the concept of what it means to be beautiful in today's society.

The video begins a busy room full of girls preparing for the pageant. There are quick shots of the girls doing some absurd things in order to look "perfect" for the stage. In this still, one girl is forcing herself into a dress that is clearly too small, most likely in order to feel more beautiful as a smaller size. In other shots, the girls are seen spraying hairspray onto their outfits, squeezing their non-existent love handles and rubbing petroleum jelly onto their teeth, to create the illusion of shine. The quick shots emphasizes the rush and desperation of the girls to look perfect and the hurried nature backstage. 

2 and 3 shots are also used to show the hostile, catty nature of the girls to each other, before the curtains come up and the fake smiles are plastered on their faces, this reflects the real world where some girls can be fake and pretentious in private, but act sweet and nice when they know others are watching.

In this  full body/ long shot, Beyonce is seen wearing a gold bikini with her sash across her her. Despite her beauty, her lean bikini body and her gown in the background, she is hanging her head down in sadness, suggesting that being beautiful means nothing if you are unhappy on the inside. The long shot, allows the audience to see the contrast between the large room and her possessions and her dejected body language. 

There is a heavy use of closeups in the music video to focus on the things the girls are doing in the name of achieving beauty which may be overlooked, if they aren't clearly focused on. The actions include, the well known secret of eating cotton balls dipped in juice to trick the body into thinking it's full, constantly checking their weight, taking weight loss pills, or maybe pills for depression and the stress of ensuring a thin waistline is maintained. 

The video ends in silence, with Beyonce exhaling after finally removing the makeup, crown and other material accessories, representing her exhaustion of the constant effort needed to maintain perfection and the sigh also shows her liberation from the constraints of tight dresses, elaborate makeup etc. The final shot shows her sash laying abandoned over a chair, implying Beyonce has decided to fling the idea of fake beauty away. The sash now reads "Pretty Hurts" which is the title of the song, this is the last shot and is almost used as a way to sum up the entire song and the strong message it carries.

DIGIPAK

Beyonce's self titled album, was released without any pre promotion - no single, music video or even rumours and leaks. It was released on Blu-Ray format and contains 14 songs and 17 videos. Due to there being no pre-promotion, singles from the album were released AFTER the album release, and many remain unreleased and only available to view on the purchased album. Any attempts to upload the unreleased videos on platforms such as YouTube are swiftly removed.

FRONT COVER

BACK COVER

ADVERTISEMENT

MORE

These are more examples of digipaks for the "Beyonce" album. It was also made in a vinyl format, this was aimed at her more devoted fans who would spend more on Beyonce memorabilia.It also includes images and lyrics. The second image shows the description above, that shows the "album cover" many believe is the front of the album is actually a sleeve in which the actual album slides out.