Music Video Progress Update 27/11/16

A final date for filming has been set. I will be updating the production schedule and risk assessment accordingly before preparing the equipment needed for filming, debriefing my actors and finalising costumes and props.

As I have a lot of work to do for my other two A-level subjects as well as preparation for university interviews and AS and A2 media coursework, I am having to be very careful in organising my time over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas.

Because I am waiting for the sixth form to replace the computers in the media editing suite and I want to clarify and refine some aspects of my music video before I begin filming, I have decided to spend extra time organising and creating second drafts of the synopsis and storyboards this week, in order for the filming process next week to be much more efficient.

I should have collected all of the footage I will need by Sunday the 4th of December. Then, provided that the new computers have been delivered and installed in the media classroom, I can begin the editing process and place a greater focus on the print artefacts. Until the computers arrive, I will continue to analyse existing CD covers and magazine adverts for the band "Have Mercy" and similar artists. 

Over the next week, I will also need to compose a letter or email to the record label and management of the band "Have Mercy" requesting permission to use the song for educational purposes that will create no profit. 

Task 9: Casting

I have cast Reece Humphreys as the male protagonist in my music video. Although he has very little acting experience, I believe that he will understand the themes and emotions presented in the song and react accordingly in the video. I also trust that he will be responsive to my directing and creative ideas as he has also studied media studies and understands the requirements I have for the filming process. In terms of costume, I will have him wear a plain dark coloured t-shirt with jeans and a black hoodie. Although he does not own a pair of converse shoes that I specified in my storyboard, I believe that a plain black pair of trainers will act as suitable substitutes. Although they will lack the connotations and links to emo and alternative music genres that converse have, they will serve a similar symbolic purpose within the narrative of the music video. I may use headphones to create similar connotations that converse shoes would have provided. He will need to bring his phone and some earphones or headphones as props, although I can provide these objects for the filming process.
                                           
I have cast Lauren Cannon as the female "guardian angel" character, who is a physical representation of the help and support provided by the depression helpline used by the male protagonist in the video. I have known Lauren for a very long time, and have acted with and directed her in multiple previous performances and productions. Therefore, I can be confident that she will be reliable and understanding throughout the filming process. As she will be playing an almost supernatural character that the audience will be unsure of the reality of, I want to have Lauren dressed in a white or yellow dress. However, due to the cold weather conditions, I have adapted this to simply involve a costume of light coloured clothes. This should make my actor more comfortable during the filming process, as well as maintaining the connotations of light colours. Lauren will require the poster listing the depression helpline number as a prop. I will be creating and providing this. I was also hoping that some shots could show Lauren turning over tarot cards. These cards will have the connotations of the male protagonist's current experiences and future before and after seeking help and support for his depression. I have a deck of tarot cards that I purchased with the intent of using in such a scenario, so she will only need to provide her own costume.

I have intentionally chosen my characters to be dressed in predominantly light or dark colours, as this will create a representation of the binary oppositions of light and dark, happiness and sadness, hope and depression. Hopefully this will further clarify the messages within my music video.

Music Video Progress Update 12/11/2016

Unfortunately, filming for my music video has been postponed yet again until next week/ next weekend.

Due to the poor weather conditions (heavy showers are forecasted across the weekend) I decided it would be unfair to make my actors work outside in the terrible conditions.

Although my music video contains some scenes that are set indoors, I have decided to do as much filming as possible in one day in order to ensure that the natural light levels remain relatively consistent throughout the video.

Instead, I have decided to direct my focus to the print artefacts for my coursework, and hope to continue  analysing the connotations, codes and conventions of the album artwork and CD cases for the band "Have Mercy" and similar artists such as "Moose Blood".

Task 8: Final Proposal

Working Title of Production:
Lean by Have Mercy- (Unofficial) Music Video

Channel for Broadcast:
My media project would be broadcast on the band "Have Mercy's" YouTube channel or a vevo channel on YouTube.
If my music video was to be shown on a TV channel, it would most likely be shown on MTV amongst the music videos belonging to a similar genre of emo/ alternative rock. Although MTV is best known for showing popular chart songs, often belonging to the pop genre, there are very few other channels dedicated to showing music videos as the medium for presenting music videos is now greatly centered around the internet, on sites such as YouTube or Dailymotion.

Target Audience:
As the band Have Mercy belong to the "emo", "alternative rock" and "pop-punk" genres. This gives me a relatively clear idea of the audience my music video needs to target.

Punk, alternative and emo are popular genres among teenagers, since songs belonging to this genre often explore and portray the feelings of angst and being misunderstood.

According to Young and Rubicam's classifications of audiences, the target audience for my music video fits into the descriptions of "Reformers" and "Explorers". "Reformers" are individuals who seek freedom, enlightenment and independent judgement whilst maintaining social awareness. Such a demographic would respond well to the themes and ideas of mental health and identity presented in my music video. The audience would be responsive to the preferred reading of the media text, but would be able to form their own interpretations based on the quality and connotations within the video. The audience could also also be classified as  "Explorers" who would be willing to explore the music of relatively new bands such as "Have Mercy". "Explorers" are also a younger demographic of students who will relate to the emotions of angst presented in the song "lean".

According to Mosaic UK's classifications, the audience for my music video would predominantly fit into the category "F23", also known as "Family Ties". This demographic consists of "Active Families with teens and adult children whose prolonged support is eating up household resources". Teenagers between the ages of 16-20 who still rely on parents/ carers for income and support whilst struggling to create their own independence in the world will be the most responsive to the themes and messages within my music video for the song "Lean" by "Have Mercy". This demographic would aim to enter the classifications within section "H" (Aspiring Homemakers), with the hope of gaining independence and stability by moving out as young adults.

According to the YouGov profiles for the audiences of mainstream, similar artists to "Have Mercy" such as "Fall Out Boy", "Imagine Dragons" and "Twenty One Pilots", fans of these bands and music genres in the UK are prominantly female, between the ages of 18-24 with a political stance that leans towards the left. The most common social grade for this audience is "C2DE". "C2" refers to "skilled manual occupations", "DE" refers to "semi-skilled and unskilled manual occupations, unemployed and lowest grade occupations". These two demographics are the two lowest on the scale of social grades. Because of the age range of "18-24", this suggests that this surprisingly low social grade is due to the demographic consisting of students who may be reliant on their parent's income and student loans as study. As there is no YouGov page for the band "Have Mercy", it is difficult to create a detailed image of the demographic for my music video. Therefore, I have only drawn main conclusions about the demographic that were the same across fans of other major music artists in similar genres. 

Genre/ Type of Music Video:
My music video is a combination between narrative and performance based, as this is the most common format and type of video. This matches the format used in the band "Have Mercy's two existing music videos taken from the same album as the song I am creating a music video for.
Style of Music Video:
I have made the stylistic choice of having my music video contain a dull colourscheme which I may change to black and white in the post-production/ editing process if I feel that the visual footage does not relate to the tone of the song to the extent that I wold like it to.

I also plan to use "dissolve" transitions between certain shots to ensure that the pace of editing does not conflict with the pace and style of the song. For example, if the notes played during a particular passage of the song fade into each other in a smooth "legato" fashion, I want the transaction between shots to mirror this with dissolves rather than conflicting it with a sudden, almost "staccato" change in visuals on screen.If appropriate then I may include some slow motion shots to add dramatic effect or to emphasise a certain element of the video, in a similar way to how slow motion effects are used on the destruction therapy shots at the end of the band's music video "Two Years" to illustrate the protagonist's emotional outburst and to emphasise the importance of this event as the protagonists method of gaining closure over a failed, past relationship.

Task 4: Audience Research (updated version)

Target Audience For My Music Video:

According to Young and Rubicam's classifications of audiences, the target audience for my music video fits into the descriptions of "Reformers" and "Explorers". "Reformers" are individuals who seek freedom, enlightenment and independent judgement whilst maintaining social awareness. Such a demographic would respond well to the themes and ideas of mental health and identity presented in my music video. The audience would be responsive to the preferred reading of the media text, but would be able to form their own interpretations based on the quality and connotations within the video. The audience could also also be classified as  "Explorers" who would be willing to explore the music of relatively new bands such as "Have Mercy". "Explorers" are also a younger demographic of students who will relate to the emotions of angst presented in the song "lean".

According to Mosaic UK's classifications, the audience for my music video would predominantly fit into the category "F23", also known as "Family Ties". This demographic consists of "Active Families with teens and adult children whose prolonged support is eating up household resources". Teenagers between the ages of 16-20 who still rely on parents/ carers for income and support whilst struggling to create their own independence in the world will be the most responsive to the themes and messages within my music video for the song "Lean" by "Have Mercy". This demographic would aim to enter the classifications within section "H" (Aspiring Homemakers), with the hope of gaining independence and stability by moving out as young adults.

According to the YouGov profiles for the audiences of mainstream, similar artists to "Have Mercy" such as "Fall Out Boy", "Imagine Dragons" and "Twenty One Pilots", fans of these bands and music genres in the UK are prominantly female, between the ages of 18-24 with a political stance that leans towards the left. The most common social grade for this audience is "C2DE". "C2" refers to "skilled manual occupations", "DE" refers to "semi-skilled and unskilled manual occupations, unemployed and lowest grade occupations". These two demographics are the two lowest on the scale of social grades. Because of the age range of "18-24", this suggests that this surprisingly low social grade is due to the demographic consisting of students who may be reliant on their parent's income and student loans as study. As there is no YouGov page for the band "Have Mercy", it is difficult to create a detailed image of the demographic for my music video. Therefore, I have only drawn main conclusions about the demographic that were the same across fans of other major music artists in similar genres. 

Bibliography:

• http://sssfcmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/audience-classification-3-young.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_%26_Rubicam
• https://marcabraham.wordpress.com/2015/09/13/what-is-psychographic-segmentation/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audience
• http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.ukgeographics.co.uk/blog/social-grade-a-b-c1-c2-d-e&gws_rd=cr&ei=yxE3WJiLLMObgAbU0YjYCQ

Music Video Progress Update 3/11/2016

Work on my Music Video has been postponed over the past two weeks as I have had to prioritise preparation for an exam on the 2nd of November.

I had originally planned to film during half term, but this has been postponed to this weekend and the weekend after.

I have successfully casted a female actor and a male actor, but I am considering locating an alternative male actor to ensure that the filming process is as effective as possible and that fewer takes are needed to capture the supportive interaction between the male and female character in the music video's narrative.

To clarify the events in the music video, I am considering integrating a short sequence of shots depicting a tarot card reading. The connotations and meanings of the cards shown will give the audience a greater impression of the character's experiences and emotions throughout the course of the song. I would film this by having the appropriate cards arranged in order, at the top of the deck. The female character would then be filmed in over the shoulder shots and from the side in a medium shot. Then, as the cards were slowly turned over onto a table, one by one, I would film each individual card in a close up shot which could be quickly inserted in between shots related to the narrative of the video. Alternatively, these shots could be used to bridge the performance footage with the footage depicting the music video's narrative.