Ideas...

My first idea is to have a group of male and female dancers performing in a modern style. I will have them all dressed in black dancewear and then use the colours associated with the genre for the text and special effects etc. I will have them styled similarly but not identically with black leotards and leggings/tights and dance shoes. I will have my artist in a similar way, but they will have slightly more colour so they stand out a bit. I will have all the artists hair down with their fringes off their faces.

Another idea is to have each dancer in a certain colour which represents the genre, however the rest of their styling will be similar to my first idea. For this the style of dancing would have to be a lot more 'pop' for them to match their styling.

A third idea is to have the performers on a stage or platform as they dance, however this would be harder to film and also it could be more dangerous for the performers. Also, i did not see anthing like this in the music videos i analysed. I would use a more street style of dance and have the dancers hair fully up.

Letter For Permission From Record Label Draft

Dear … ,

I am a student at Edgbarrow Sixth form in Crowthorne. One of the subjects I am currently studying is Media and for my coursework I have chosen to produce a music video, which is why I am contacting you.

I would like your permission to use the song “I Just Wanna Dance” by Nathalie Makoma who I believe is an artist signed by the Netherlands division of your record label. I really love the song and believe it would be perfect for my video as it will be a performance based video featuring dancing. I feel I could make an effective video as my coursework using this track and I could send you a copy of the final piece if you would like to see it.

Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,
Katie Stone

Letter of Acceptance to be Filmed Draft

Dear participant,

If you are happy to participate in my music video for my media A-level product, (in which you will be dancing and possibly miming lyrics), please fill in the information below. Thank you for your co-operation.

Participant name:

………………………………………………

Participant DOB:

………………………………………………

Signed by participant:

………………………………………………

Signed by parent/guardian (if participant is under 18):

………………………………………………

Yours faithfully,
Katie Stone

Product Placement

There are many different places where I could publish my music video. The most common places which music videos are watched are on television channels such as MTV and VIVA. There are many more well known channels and programmes which are based completely on music and some are tied to certain genres such as top of the pops which features pop music. Although my music video is not going to be as well known so it will not be on these channels, there are other channels such as 4-music which would feature and promote it.

There are also many websites online where people can watch such videos. The main one is YouTube which has both music videos and other films published by the producers. Similarly, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and other websites such as vh1.com also have this facility, which allows viewers to consume such products in the comfort of their own home.

People can also now easily download music videos and songs in their Mp3 format straight to their phone, iPod or computer, which can be a problem for record labels and similar companies who are now worried about loosing the importance of music videos.

There are also other companies which distribute music promo's such as my music video for example match box records and if neccessary i could get in contact with them. IODA is the leading company for music distribution and other large companies are NVD and KES. In the real media industry i would hope to eventually be able to present my music video to such companies so that my video could be distributed on a much wider and larger scale. I would approach someone like the Polydor Group who produce and distribute the work of successful artists like Cheryl Cole.

However for my own music video, my focus group said they would like to access it on the internet, however if I did want to the smaller music channels like E4 would definitely show my music video.

From Mrs S

This is going to be good Katie.

How Research Will Inform my Planning

From all of my research I now know that my music video will be aimed at both males and females aged 16-18. It will be to a pop track which will be upbeat and modern as it will need to be exciting to reflect my target audience.

It must be available on the internet to access easily and for free and it must use the colours black, silver, turquoise, orange, baby yellow and bright pink as well as possible lilac and grey.

It will be performance based and will feature a group of between 3 and 13 males and females dancing in different sized groups. The performers and the artist will be styled similarly and they will all be featured in casual dancewear which is not too revealing. The dancers will be dancing a in a modern, hip-hop jazz style and will be performing throughout the entire video.

My music video will only feature a small number of background and costume changes and may feature a small amount of writing on screen such as quotes from the lyrics and/or the artist’s name, but these must be in a casual font and style and not draw too much attention away from the performance.

The video must be filmed in a dance studio and include a range of shot types. It will have shots of the artist and the dancers separately as well as together and it will use an opening shot which draws most of the attention to the artist.

When i produce my other two products i will need to consider the colours, styling and fonts used in the music video to ensure i create synergy throughout my media products.

This will help me plan my music video as i now know a lot more about what my target audeince want from it and which styles they do and do not like. This will help me know hoe to style my artists, which shots and frames to use and which dance styles they like the most. This will be a lot of help whilst planning my music video.

My album cover ans poster will feature the same colours, styling and font used in my video to ensure that they all link togerther well and there is a clear synergy across the products. They must also be quite simple so that the main focus is the artist and so that they are quite attractive and modern. My focus group did not wat too much fancy detail.

From Mrs S

I agree with Mrs D - I'm impressed with the effort you're putting in.

Focus Group Opinion

I asked my focus group for feedback on what they liked and disliked about this music video. They said they liked that the dancers were dressed and styled individually and that there was a range in the number of groups performing. They also liked that there were a small number of scene and costume changes as this meant there was less to distract from the dancers performing. However, they said they did not like the costumes used or particularly the style of dancing. They also did not like the background as they though it was hard to see the performances which were taking place.

Real Media Artefact

This is a link to the music video "Get Up" by Ciara and featuring Chamillionaire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlHZssSo6WI

The video starts with Ciara on a bed and then cuts to her dancing alone and then with 3 male dancers. They are all wearing black and the background is also black which makes it difficult to see them well. This continues and the camera switches between close ups of the artist and long shots of the 4 dancers.

The video then cuts to a shot in the same place but the artist is now dancing with 6-8 female dancers. Their costumes and styling are not identical, but they are all wearing similar colours and are styles similarly to the artist. More male dancers then also join in and they begin to dance using caps as props.

The style of dancing is a lot more intimate between the males and females and is more like street dancing than the videos i have previously analysed and the dancers dance in pairs, in both small and large groups and individually at different points in the video.

The song then chances to the oart where chamillionaire does his rap. There is a drastic change in the image on screen as the background which has been black throughout changes to white, which suggests that the artist is more well known and famous. The video cuts between images of Chamillionaire and 3-4 female dancers dressed in black on the white background and the original dancers with Ciara dancing on the black background.

The video then cuts to an image of the dancers in a circle and it appears that they are on a roof top in the midle of the city. There are tall buildings and lights and a lit up sign saying "step up" to represent the film in which the track features. This is when Ciara starts rapping and the beat of the music changes slightly as if it a different section of the song.

The lyrics then say "take a picture" and Ciara makes a noise like a camera capturing a picture several times as the dancers strike a pose each time.

The video then cuts between the dancers performing and scenes from the film the track features on however i do not want to feature this in my music video.

The film then ends as it started: with Ciara on a bed.

Mrs D

This is detailed and there is some effective analysis here which should help you when you come to the planning stage. Well done.

Real Media Artefact

Right click and select "open link in a new tab" to see more clearly.

Real Media Artefact

Right click and select "open link in a new tab" to see more clearly.

On the back of this ablum didgipack, there was no image just a track list as well as the executive producer, management group, artists website and bar code. This will be similar to the one i will use.

On the inside their was information about the artist on one side and an image of the artist on the other. I will use the artist information part for my own digipack.

Music Video Purpose

The purpose if a music video is to portray a mood and atmosphere which often relates to the genre. It is also a promotional tool. This means that my music video will need to reflect the pace and individual style which will draw the reader in and be exciting. If i want to promote my artist then my music video must reflect and appeal to my target audience.

From Mrs S

Good analytical work Katie.

Synergy

Like the 3 Real Media Artefacts by Cheryl Cole which i analysed, these all show a clear pattern throughout them. They are all in black and white to represent the artist and her alter ego and they are all promoting different aspects of the artist so that when put together they are an all round advertisement. For example, the album cover promotes her natural beauty, the music video promotes her talent and the poster promotes her alter ego and performing style.

Focus Group Opinion

I asked the 5 members of my focus group their opinions on this music video. They all said that they liked the fact that there was performance throughout the entire video and that this makes it unique. However they though the style of dancing was a bit repetitive and thought the costumes were slightly too revealing. They also thought it would be better with a slightly higher number of dancers, but they really likes the fact that the artist and dancers were styled in a similar way and that the artist did not have to stand out extremely, as she is already such a well known artist and therefore she does not need to boost her ego.

From this i now know that when i am filming and making my music video, i will ensure i have more than 3 dancers (but still less than 13), have performance throughout the entire video, show more variety in the dancing routine, have costumes which cover up the dancers slightly more than the ones featured in this video and style my 'artist' and dancers in a similar way.

Real Media Artefact

This is a link to the music video "Beyonce- Single Ladies" which is a track on her album "I Am... Sasha Fierce" which i have analysed the cover and promotional poster of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyHVQT8aIBM

This video is extremely simple and features just the artist and two other dancers performing to the pop style song in the background. The background is plain and simply white, grey and sometimes black with the dancers and artist featured in simple black leotard style costumes throughout. There are no costume changes and the two dancers are featured almost identically styled to Beyonce herself apart from her jewellery. However she is still the main focus as she is featured in the centre of the other two dancers at all times.

The entire video is in black and white throughout as are the poster and album cover. This is to show that the artist and dancers talent are the main focus of the video as well as the song and that they do not want colour or costume to distract from this. This also makes the video seem quite retro, yet the style of dancing and the costumes are very modern, which creates a contrast which could be to represent the contrast between Beyone and her alter-ego Sasha Fierce.

It is a very effective music video as the main focus is simply on the artist's talent and also that of the dancers.

Real Media Artefact

Right click and select "open link in a new tab" to see more clearly.

Real Media Artefact

Right click and select "open link in a new tab" to see more clearly.

On the back of this ablum didgipack, there was an image of the artist plus a track list as well as the executive producer, management group, artists website and bar code. This will be similar to my digipack accept i wont use an image on the back with the track list.

On the inside their was just images of the artist, but this is not the style i will use for my didgipack.

From Mrs S

This is good Katie

Synergy Throughout Real Media Artefacts

The three real media artefacts I have analysed show a clear and consistent image of the artist. The artist has a modern and stylish image and always uses fonts and colours which are attractive and striking. The artefacts show a clear synergy across them to show the artist as a young, glamorous and successful female artist.

Summary of Focus Group Questionnaire

I now know that my music vedeo will need to:
- Use an opening shot which draws attention to my artist
- Have a maximum of 13 dancers
- Have shots of the dancers separate from the artist as well as some together
- Have the dancers in a more relaxed style than the ones in tis video and not have them all dressed and styled the same
- Have the dancers wearing their dance wear as well as black lace and tight legins
- Only have a few costume, background and location changes so that the performers and the artist are the main features
- Feature a small amount of 'doodle' style text on screen
- Style my artist in a unique and original way
- Have a performance similar to that in this video

From Mrs S

You've got good stuff here. Don't fall behind though.

Focus Group Questionnaire Analysis

100% of my focus group said they liked the opening shot of the video, so i could use a similar one in my video.

They said they likes it because it draws attention to the artist, so i will need to make sure the opening shot of my music video has the same effect.

People thought there were the right number or too many dancers in this video. The maximum number of dancers shown is 13 (not including the artist) so i will make sure i do not have more than this in my video.

60% of my focus group preferred the artist and dancers to be separate, yet it was a close call so i will still include some shots with them together.

This shows me that i do not have to have all my dancers dressed exactly the same. This is good because it means i will not have to ensure they alllook exactly the same which could save me some money and reduce my budget.

From this i now know that my audience do not want my dancers to have lots of different outfits because this gives off mixed messages. This means that i will only have a few, so they will not contradict each other too much.

This again shows me that i do not need to have a large number of costume changes to please my audience.

This shows me that it will definately be better to have fewer costume changes, to ensure that my performenr are the main focus of my video.

This also shows me that i will not need to have lots of backgrounds in my video to please my audience. This is good because it will save me time when filming.

This is good because it means that i can shoot my video in a real life setting so i will not have to spend a long time sorting out different backgrounds.

This also shows me that i will not have to shoot loads of different locations for my video to be successful.

Although 60% of people said that they did not want text on the screen in my original questionnaire, 60% of people said they liked the text in this music video. This shows that i could feature text in my music video if i wanted to but it would not matter if i didnt as my audience would still like it.

This tells me that if i did want to feature text i would need to do it in a similar style to this so that my audience would like it.

60% of people thought that the image on screen and the lyrics fitted well, so i could use examples of this video in my own.

This tells me that people did not particularly like the style of the artist in this particular video, so i will style my artist differently in mine.

80% said no, which shows me i will also need to style my dancers differently to this in my music video.

This shows me that my audience mainly liked cheryl's leapord print trousers and lace leotard and legins. I will use these outfits to influece the cay i dress my dancers in my video.

60% of peope thought that this was a successful video and therefore by using this video as an influence, my video sould be successful and appeal to my audience.

This shows me that 80% of people liked the performance in this video, so if my performance is similar, then it will appeal to my audience.

This shows me that people did not like the dancers make up, the high number of costume changes or the constant singing, so i will try to reduce or eliminate these factors in my music video.

From this i will make sure i have less dancers and costume changes than this video and that my dancers will be styled more casually than the ones in this video.

Mrs D

You have analysed the poster and CD cover well and show excellent understanding of star promotion. You might want to look at the synerggy created across all of the products to create a package.