Preliminary Tasks

From doing preliminary task I was able to test out the different types of Media and see what I enjoyed most, found the most interesting, found maybe the easiest for my lifestyle and situation. I really enjoyed creating all four different types of film, but found the most creative to be the music video. The music video fitted easily around my lifestyle and so meant I would be able to concentrate on it very well and really show my own individual style. Here I will explain the process of each film and how I found it and if I could of improved it if I had more time.

Music Video:
When working on the music video we were given a song that we were not aware of. This meant we looked intensely at the lyrics instead of the kind of feeling you gain from the music and so therefore focuses on the idea of sweets, 'candy'. We also played around with the colouring of the video due to the idea that the film is colourful because of the sweets, so we enhanced that by changing the colours of the screen shot. I enjoyed the creativity with edits on this film, but I didn't like the lack of knowledge of the song and so I felt I was limited to just focusing on the lyrics.
From this though I have decided to create a music video for my coursework. I have decided this on the bases that I enjoyed creating it and I feel that when I choose a song that I am familiar with and feel I can create a great re-creation of the songs video in a completely unique and different way.


 Music video - Candy Shop from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

Documentary:
The topic we chose for the documentary was 'Stress Of Exams'. This was a very easy choice due to the time we filmed it, it was the exam period and so it was all very fresh in peoples minds. This was important when it came to the interviews. It meant that people were actually experiences the stress of having exams and they were able to explain that to us and also help us find out how things can be changed so people are so stressed and upset the minute someone mentions an EXAM! I enjoyed interviewing the public when filming this and I also enjoyed looking into a subject that I was experiencing myself as well. Although I did over all enjoy creating this film,, I found it difficult to keep the documentary open minded to different opinions and keep up the technique of almost subtly persuading the audience to understand the opinion that exams are stressful. This was a down factor to me choosing to create a documentary for my coursework.

Documentary- Stress Of Exams from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

Advertisement:
We were asked to pick an item out of a box and this is the item in which my group were assigned. This was really fun to film and we instantly had an idea of what we were going to do to produce an advert that would be as slick as the Apple adverts themselves, (with the white background and the simplicity of the mise-en-scen), but showed off all the features of the iPhone. I felt the advert is very successful and I enjoyed filming it. Although, I felt I couldn't be as creative as I could be with other types of video. Advertisement can be very difficult. Making a moving image attractive to a specific audience can be hard and you need to know your item extremely well. As well as this, if I chose this for my coursework I would have to make up my own item and that can be quite difficult as there are a lot to compete with in the world, pretty much everything is already a product being sold! So this is a factor I have taken into account when choosing what type of media I am going to create.

Advertisement - Lucy&Bri from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

Short Film:
The short film was one of my favourite medias to create. This short film was inspired by french short films that are silent and black and white, with a simplistic but catchy tune in the background in which would help with the creation of the emotion/ or mood that we, as actors, were trying to create. The theme of the video was that the cardboard robot head is imaginary and the girl didn't realise that she had an imaginary friend until one of her real friends sits on the robot friend and the robot disappears. The girl then becomes very confused and upset with the fact she has been spending all this time was an imaginary friend. So her and robot fall out and robot is left to fade away in the rain. It is a sad ending but I think that is what makes the film different and interesting. I really enjoyed making this film and it was one of my favourite tasks. I was stuck between creating a short film or a music video but thought that I have a better understand for the music video and so have chosen to create a music video for my coursework.

Short Film- Robot Love from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

Institutional Reseach

While searching for where I may find permission for using Florence and The Machine - You got the love song I came across the music company Island Records.
I thought I would do some research on the institution.

Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell and Graeme Goodall in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by UMG who is also known as the Universal Music Group.

Island Records include artists such as Florence and The Machine, Akon, Ben Howard, Avicii, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bob Marley and Alex Clare. I feel these artists all show a different variey of music genres and types. I like this about Island Records and feel that this was a good company to connect my song choice 'Florence and The Machine - You got the love' with.
Island records produce music videos for the artists which then allowed them to promote it online and on TV channels such as MTV.

As you can see above the website is very colourful and stands out which is where I can see the features of the jamaican style, especially with the palm tree logo.
Not only do Island Records produce music videos but they also make album art for the artists.

Setting Research

Thinking about my location for filming I have a good idea of where I am going to create my music video. The location is very important as it helps with the creation of the atmosphere that the music video will create and it helps with the feelings and emotions in which the artist is trying to show through her singing and lyrics.

So, a local wood called Plymbridge Woods is where I will feature most of my filming. Within this there are lots of long roads/paths and this is where I would love my music video to starts. With an establishing shot that pans towards my artist walking towards to camera on the path. This may seem quite stereo-typed but I feel the environment helps with the showing off of emotion and this is very important to my music video and to the beginning of it. The beginning needs to be strong and connect to the audience and make them feel what the lyrics and song means.

This area look beautiful in the dark when there is a clear sky as you can see from the images. The sky is a lovely purple that is completely natural. This path is very long and so have plenty of space to film a walking/establishing shot. As well as this, while walking the path you can come across many different looking locations which could help when cutting up some long shots and changing the scenery abit.

Below is some of the test footage I have taken from the area. Of course the darkness effects the camera but it gives me an idea of how I need to film in this location and also what time of day to film as it can get dark very quickly and so I need to make sure I am getting the correct lighting I need. This was taken at about 5 o'clock and so I may need to be in this area around early afternoon instead of late afternoon.

As well as Plymbridge woods, I have used the woods below which is in Tavistock meaning an easy area to get too. This woods is very attractive to me due to the winding paths and long lake. The trees above reflect off the water and it is an extremely photo generic area. This is an area in which I will have featured alot in my music video.

 

The reflections of the water and shadows creates an environment that is very beautiful, peaceful and almost perfect for two lovers to take a walk along the long winding path that could lead them anyway, (but they don't mind cause they love each other and just wish to enjoy each others company). The leaves and the colours create subtle and emotional tones that are seen to be quite romantic as leaves fall and winter brews. Winter means lots of hugs to keep each other warm and so I almost hope to show some romance though this environment with all the romantic connotations. The path is what I love most about this area. The leaves cover it which adds create detail to the colours and the sounds in which you will get from walking through the leaves, this could also be seen to be quite playful, messing around in leaves as if they are children again. The trees show almost a 'Sepia' natural tone due to the grey sky and brown/black colour of the bark. This makes the area seem old-fashioned and natural which creates a relaxing and enjoyable environment for two people who are new to a relationship and are still innocent and shy.

TEST footage plymbridge woods from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

Here is some test footage in which I have taken and I feel that the location above is not up to the standards in which the location below shows.
I have used this test footage to see what works best and how it could help to improve my music video. I have tried to use different techniques to see how they look which is why my test footage zooms in and out and pans just so I am able to see how it looks and see if it works or not.


TEST footage Tavistock from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

The footage above I feel shows that it works well when the camera is still and the location is just right for the kind of emotional shots I would like to convey. Where as the other location has 'murky' colours, the colouring in the location above is very bright and some details like the reflection of the trees in the water. So this test footage has helped me to see the differences between different locations and also how lighting affects the way a location is perceived and how small features can be very powerful when trying to create a certain feel to a location.

As well as the outside area I had an idea to work on a stage for my artist to sing on. I contacted a local theatre to see if they had any available space for me to pop in for an hour and so some filming.

Hello
My name is Lucy Gosling and I am a current A Level student at Tavistock
College.
I have spoken to Angela Court and she has referred me to yourself.
I am wondering if there would be any possibility of me using The Wharf
stage on Thursday the 13th of December after 3:10pm or anything around
that time, for a couple of hours or an hour, what ever may be possible.
I am studying Media Studies and am creating a music video for my
coursework. I would need the stage to film my actress singing for my
music video. I would love to use lighting and other effects if possible
but I understand that money may become an issue.
I would love to hear back from you with any advise or information you
can give to me.
This email (lgosling@tavistockcollege.devon.sch.uk) is my school email.
My personal email is lucykate274@hotmail.com if you wish to contact me
on that.
If you wish to contact me my mobile is 07740167536

I am happy to pop in if you wish to talk face to face.
Thank you very much for your time.

Lucy Gosling
(Tavistock College A Level Student)

From this I did receive an email back but saying that it was not available at the times where I was available that so that idea did not work out.

"Hi Lucy

I've been checking the diary up to Christmas and I don't have any available slots in the afternoon. The best I can offer you is sometime in the New Year.

Hope this helps?

Jess"

Here is the living room I used in my music video. I didnt have much control over the look of the living room as it came with the house I chose to use. But I found that the living room was quite small so such items as the sofa and telly were in the same area meaning the audience would be able to easily understand that the environment was the living room.

I made the female actor walk into the kitchen because I thought that in the real world, when you fall out with someone you want to get away from them and take them off there mind. From this I thought she could come into the kitchen as if to get a drink and refresh herself. So as she comes into the kitchen she takes a breather. She them hears him coming and the argument begins. I really like the look of filming in the kitchen because, again, it is a small area and everything is in shot and almost gives the effect of a panorama effect of the whole kitchen.

For the singing shots I wanted to keep the background quite simple. I had a black background with bright lighting on the side to light up the artists face. I really liked this and found that although it was simple it was quite dramatic and the lighting lit up her figure really well.

Actors and Artist Profile

Conventions Of Pop Music

The style of Adele's music videos are an inspiration for my own style of a music video. Adele's music is very emotional and this reflects within the videos. Here I will analyse some shots of a couple of Adele's music videos.

Adele - Someone like you.

Here you can see that the shots are very simplistic but highly edited with a dark contrast. The editing already creates an emotional setting because of the intensity of the long path and the darkness of the trees surrounding. From this I feel that when I choose my own setting for my music video that it is important for me to think about all these features and take into account the idea of editing the settings to make it more intense and emotional. This shot could be seen as an establishing shot, where the environment is being shown and almost introducing the environment for the beginning of the story. This tells me that I should consider an establishing shot at the beginning of my music video to create an atmosphere.

Here the shot shows a close up of the singers face as she is singing. The mise-en-scene is still being considered though the background, we can still see a beautiful image of a bridge, so the environment is still being show to create that sense of innocence and realism as she is walking along a street, an everyday situation. Its not a fancy environment which is seen to be private. As well as this, the emotion on the singers face adds to the complete atmosphere of the video. As the words are emotional, they need to be sang as if the singer really means every word they sing. That is where the audience can completely engage with the video and almost feel the pain that comes through each lyric.

This shot is completely different to the other two, due to the way it has been represented. The back boarder creates a film like style and the landscape image creates an emphasis on the environment. The grey and black colour theme links with the emotional genre, seeing as the colours are seen as "sad" where as with another music video the colouring could be brightly due to the fact the song is happy and cheerful. (For example, Nicki Minaj- The boys)

I like the simplicity of the Adele video and the reason why the video is so simple or intense is the fact that the music video once to focus on the lyrics. This helps me with my music video as the original music video of "You Got The Love" by Florence and the machine does not include intense emphasis on the meaning of the lyrics. "You Got The love" has strong lyrics based around love, the line I will be focusing on in my music video is...

"But you've got the love I need To see me through"

This is because the word "need" sounds desperate and as if they cannot live without it. This will be the story behind my music video by emphasising the need to feel love with someone and how it makes you feel to miss someone, lose someone or never find that someone.

  

Adele - Chasing Pavements.

Here is another screen shot from an Adele music video. This video is seen to be slightly different due to the editing of the video. It is in colour and shows aspects of some creativity in which I feel the other Adele music video (Someone like you) is missing.

This screen shot shows us a male and a female. They are laying on the floor of a pavement and moving about as if standing up. This is very clever how the camera is facing flat down onto them and creating the effect that they are standing up. This is showing the creativity side of what is overall a very sad story. (The story of two people, who have been involved in a car crash and has therefore been throw across onto the pavement where they lay with their bodies motionless. This tell me that emotional videos can be very creative and bright in colour, not just dark and sinister like the 'Someone like you' music video.  

You can see there are the same style of shots in each video still. A close up shot is very common for this genre and seems to help show the emotion that is trying to be persuded though the lyrics and rest of the video. Also you can see there is an establishing shot used within each video, and shows some kind of aspect of the singer walking along in deep thought and emotion, but still showing off the environment in which the video is in. These tell me that if I wish to create strong emotion in my music video I need to look into the shots I use and the environment that I use as all these factors work together to create emotion within my music video.

Theoretical Research

There are three theorists that I will be looking at in particular throughout the process of my creation of a music video, this is because I feel they will help me with my new idea of a narrative story line and they will open my eyes to other concept ideas for my music video.  

 

VLADIMIR PROPP

Vladimir Propp was born on April 17, 1895 in St. Petersburg to a German family. He concluded that all the characters could be resolved into 8 broad character types:

1. The villain — struggles against the hero.  

2. The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.

3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in their quest. 

4. The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.

5. Her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, and marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.

6. The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.

7. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.

8. False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters, as the hero kills the villain dragon, and the dragon's sisters take on the villainous role of chasing him. Conversely, one character could engage in acts as more than one role, as a father could send his son on the quest and give him a sword, acting as both dispatcher and donor.

This connects to my own music video as I wish to create the concept of a Villain and Hero. My idea could indicate that at the beginning, when the person is lost and lost faith and hope in them self, that the people could be their own enemy (there own villain), then when it comes to the end and they begin to feel confident and find them selves, they become a hero!

Claude Lévi-Strauss 

‘The world began without the human race and will certainly end without it.’

Claude Lévi-Strauss (28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist. He argued that the "savage" mind had the same structures as the "civilized" mind and that human characteristics are the same everywhere.

•French anthropologist

•Developed the theory of ‘binary oppositions’

~ Villian and Hero

~ Life and Death

~ Happy and Sad

~ Strong and Weak

~ East and West

These are all Binary oppositions. This again connects to my music video with the idea of having a good and a bad within my video, and again connecting to good and evil with the persons different personalities and attitudes to her life.

Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov born March 1, 1939 in Sofia. He has lived in France since 1963
Todorov looked into the idea of breaking up something into three sections. •Equilibrium (The beginning, where everything is normal and day to day life)


•Disruption (Something happens that changes the normal day to day life, and usually consists of a bad situation or problem)

•New Equilibrium (Where the situation has been resolved and everything is all good again)

This relates entirely to my idea for my music video as you see the transformation form a normal girl, to enquiring a problem and changing into someone who feels very lost, hopeless and lonely. Then at the end, finally conquering all and becoming that "hero" and having her life back to normal but usually with something extra special in her life now that would not of been there before.

Stuart Hall - Audience Reception Theory
Stuart Hall has this theory that with any text there are different types of audience reception...

Regulation Research

The mass media is in the UK is regulated. This means that legal bodies have been set up, usually by the government, to protect the public and safeguard them from harmful or offencive content.

Ofcom is required under the Communications Act 2003 and the Broadcasting Act 1996 to draw up a code for television and radio, covering standards in programmes, sponsorship, product placement in television programmes, fairness and privacy. This Code is to be known as the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

The Code is set out in terms of principles, meanings and rules and, for Sections Seven (Fairness) and Eight (Privacy), also includes a set of “practices to be followed” by broadcasters. These are to help readers understand the standards objectives and to apply the rules. When applying the Code to content, broadcasters should be aware that the context in which the material appears is key. In setting this Code, Ofcom has taken into account

the following:

1, the degree of harm and offence

2, the likely size and composition of the potential audience for programmes included in television and radio

3, the likely expectation of the audience as to the nature of a programme’s content and the extent to which the nature of a programme’s content can be brought to the attention of potential members of the audience;

4, the likelihood of persons who are unaware of the nature of a programme’s content being unintentionally exposed

5, the desirability of securing that the content of services identifies when there is a change affecting the nature of a service that is being watched or listened

6, the desirability of maintaining the independence of editorial control over

programme content.

These criteria have informed Ofcom’s approach to setting the Code and therefore must be taken into account by broadcasters when interpreting the rules.

- OFCOM is a communication organisation that basically helps the UK stay protected from harmful content on radios and televison. They also help keep privacy to the public and stop any unfair behaviour towards the public by television or radion because they may of invaded their privacy.

- The guidelines for media aimed at under 18's (with reference to sexual content, drugs and language) is that programme makers should always consider the impact that the representation of the use of illegal drugs, the abuse of drugs, smoking, solvent abuse and the misuse of alcohol, may have on younger viewers and listeners. At any time when children are particularly likely to be listening must therefore be editorially justified.

- The rules for employing under 18's in video is that the broadcaster has to judge what is appropriate in each case to ensure compliance with the Code. The level of care must be "appropriate to the particular circumstances".

- Offensive language raises concerns about harm to children. There is a concern that children may imitate offensive language or be upset to hear this language, when their parents or carers have told them it is wrong, before they have worked out their own attitude to its use. Milder language in the early part of the evening may be acceptable, for example, if mitigated by a humorous context. However, in general, viewers and listeners do not wish to hear frequent or regular use of such language, including profanity, before 9 o'clock.

- Flashing images and/or patterns can cause seizures in people with photosensitive

epilepsy. The Ofcom guidelines, based on scientific research, are intended to limit the incidences of seizures and a warning should only be used in place of the guidelines if editorially justified.

Isolated single, double, or triple flashes are acceptable, but a sequence of

flashes is not permitted when both the following occur:

1. the combined area of flashes occurring concurrently occupies more than

one quarter of the displayed (see note 3) screen area; and

2. there are more than three flashes within any one-second period. For

clarification, successive flashes for which the leading edges are separated by

9 frames or more are acceptable, irrespective of their brightness or screen

area.

- All these features can affect the overall outcome of my music video. This is because all features of my music video need to be within the regulations and need to be able to be viewed by the public in a harmless and safe way. These regulations basically tell me what I can and cannot do, and so therefore, following them is allowing me to create a media music video with an intention to be safe to the public.

The Development!

Here I am going to explain the development from my old idea to the new.
Looking at my video analyse, worries began to occur to the similarities of the original music video and the idea I had myself. After doing lots of research and even creating a mini/ half-made music video with the footage in which I had already done, my plan for the music video has changed. With this I would like to explain why, how and what my original and new ideas in tale.

party test with music from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.
WHY?
My original music video idea was a party like atmosphere in which included features of a actress singing and many handheld videoing features of people dancing and showing characteristics of being under the influence of alcohol. The whole "party" like atmosphere but abit too close to home for being like the original "you got the love" music video, as it was very celebratory as well. So this is what has lead me to look more into the lyrics of the song and bring out the sadness with in it, therefore creating a whole new twist on the atmosphere of the song.

New Idea!
My new plan is to create an almost more sinister version of the song. A male or female who has lost faith and confidence in themselves and feeling lost and lonely.
With this I may include black and white features for some of the early footage, to create those connotations of a sadness in the film. I have thought of some emotional shots of arguing with loved ones and just creating an atmosphere that this is really effecting her relationships with loved ones and friends as well as effecting her as a person and just generally her life.
With this I feel there is a complete difference between the versions of the music video and therefore not allowing the idea of "copying" to be shown in my work. This is very important to me as I feel I can really create a version of the song and music video that no one has really thought about or have thought of the song in that way. The creativity and the idea of having a narrative storyline means that I can be very imaginative and really look outside of the box to create a great music video.

Audience Research

Audience Research from Lucy Gosling on Vimeo.

Audience Research Video Questions (left)
Target Audience Questionnaire (below)

After undertaking some interviewing with 5 different individuals of different genders and ages I have found out some information relevant to my product of a music video. For a music video to be successful in advertising it's song it needs to be engaging and attractive to the target audience. I have found that Females are my main choice of audience. Ranging from the ages of 17-40 this is a very vast age group but due to the lyrics and tone to the song it is seen as very 'Inspirational'. With this factor I find it can connect with a large age group of people.

Here are the type of people I feel would connect well with the official music video of Florence and The Machine: "You Got The Love"...

Amy Sloman         Gemma Gosling          Angie Presland

Age: 17                        Age: 20                          Age: 40 

Hobbies: Shopping,        Hobbies: Shopping,      Hobbies: Reading, driving

meeting up with friends  reading and meeting                  and cooking.
and partying.                 up with friends.
    

But my music video is going to be different to the version by Florence and The Machine and so looking at the age group I am going to pick out a smaller age group to focus on for my target audience. I have decided to eliminate the elder audience and focus on the 17-20 year old. This means I am able to create a more young focused music video as my own age group is within this and so I am able to relate to the parts of the music video I will create therefore meaning my target age group audience will relate to it as well.

Here is my idea of the image and personality of my target audience for my own version of Florence and The Machine: "You Got The Love"...

 Amy Sloman                                                                                Gemma Gosling

   <---- Age: 17                

Hobbies: Shopping, Meeting up with friends 
and partying.

Age: 20                --->

Hobbies: Shopping, Reading, Meeting up with friends and dancing.       

     

Music Video Analysis

After analysing the music video I have found points in which I would love to use as inspiration but I need to stress the difference that I am intending to have for my own, individual version of the songs music video. Although I speak of the fact I enjoy the ending features of the "party" scene, my footage is from from the fantasy, magical dream-like world in which Florence is singing in. As well as this the video shows happiness and celebrations of what seems to be love. The whole music video seems to shows a "party" celebration with everyone. This could suggest the connection with the song title, "you got the love", the video shows everybody is happy and sharing their positive feelings with each other as they all have the love, and they all want to share it with one another.

With this taken into account, I would like to stray away from the idea of a celebration. I may include footage of a "party" like atmosphere but in a much more dramatic and sadden way as the celebration is going to be taken out in my version. The celebration of Love will not exist and the sadness of not feeling love or feeling as if the love is lost is going to replace the happiness.