RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Music Video Pitch - Party Tattoos

Prezi
This is the pitch for my music video 'Party Tattoos'.

I was given the task of presenting my ideas for the music video to my peers. To beign with, I showed them a small snippet of the music video, giving them a small insight of what the artist's music is like and the general vibe for the video. Based off of the small snippet I showed them, I asked them to stereotype and mould a 'typical' viewer for my music video. They guessed correctly, saying that it would most likeloy be a young female student. I then confirmed this by showing them the YouGov results - a reliable source for generating a typical audience profile. I explained that I had to use a similar artist as the artist I am doing ym music video for, Dodie Clark, is not on there.

After this, I gave them the chance to look through the first verse of the lyrics. I then explained my initial ideas for each part of the lyrics. I said that I wanted the visuals to be quite symplistic to fit in with the general vibe of the song. I highlighted that the video will most likely consist of artistic shots, including time lapses, stop motion and photo montages. It was important that the party scene was highlighted. Also, I thought that the video would need some sort of narrative to move the shots along.

Also, I wanted there to be flashforwards/flashbacks of the girl in the video as an adult, looking back on her youth and debating regret of not spending more time with her family. I described in my pitch that I will be holding up an acrylic pain in front of the camera and throwing powdered paint, glitter and confetti at it to follow the party theme. At the end of the video, I want to project tattoos onto different teenages of different race/gender/etc. This could show that these could be the underlying problems of any teenager. I inferred from the lyrics that the 'tattoo' is almost like a stamp of regret from the person's youth.

In the pitch, I explained my reasons why I chose to make a music video for Party Tattoos. One of the main reasons is because it currently does not have a proper music video. The music video for it currently is just the singer singing to the camera. Therefore, I though that it would be interesting to explore how the lyrics could be displayed through a visual narrative. I also thought that there was quite a lot of themes to cover, such as relationship issues and growing up within the modern day.

I designed a clear moodboard for my pitch. I showed the audience that I wanted the colours within the music video to primarily be pastel colours as I feel like this would represent the artist well. Due to the video being filmed around Winter, I wanted it to have quite a cosy and warm feel to it. So, I will be including bokeh imagery.

I presented some basic types of shots that I am planning to use as well. I am planning to use extreme close ups of facial features such as they eyes and mouth. This will espcially becomje significant when the lyric 'black lipstick will never be a sin' is said. I will also be using a stop motion of the clock's hands at the start of the video.

The pitch was my first chance to gain audience feedback. I primarily ganed this feedback through a questionnaire that I deisgned and handed out to my peers. This helped me to develop my ideas even further. It helped me to sort out which direction I wanted my music video to go. One of the suggestions I had was to use people with actual tattoos to help depict more of a storyline. I will thoroughly consider using this idea. More feedback can be seen on the questionnaire audience feedback blogpost.


The pitch includes:

•  The potential target audience
•  Why I chose the song
•  What our cinematography plans are for the lyrics
• A questionnaire 
• A mini mood board for the video 

https://prezi.com/p/-dvdu1ktvg6n/#present

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Music Video Questionnaire - Audience Feedback

I conducted the following questionnaire to try and research what sort of music videos a young student (which is my target audience) would like. I handed this questionnaire out to several people:

Questionnaire

Are you:

• Male
• Female

How old are you?

Please state your favourite artist/song:

What sort of music videos are you interested in?

• Live footage of artist/band
• A storyline
• Clips linking to lyrics

How often do you watch music channels?

• Every week
• Every month
• Every once in awhile
• Never

What platform do you use to listen to music?

• Youtube
• Streaming from apps (Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music)
• Music channels on the TV
• CDs

If you do stream your music from apps, do you pay for premium services?

• Yes
• No

In conclusion, I found that generally a young student of around the age of 17/18 likes music videos that have a story line to it as it interests them more. I asked which gender and age the person was filling out the questionnaire so that I could have more knowledge about the target audience I was aiming for.

I asked about the type of music videos that people liked to gather what sort of music video I could possibly create for the song that I am doing. I found that clips linking to the lyrics were also popular as it helps people understand what the lyrics are trying to depict more. This fits in with the type of music video that I would like to create as the lyrics are quite literal, therefore I would like to create similar visuals to keep the audience engaged.  I have decided that I am going to use a mixture of all three types of music video. The music video will have some artistic shots which relate to the music video, representing the visuals. It will also have some sort of narrative to it as there is underlying conflict between the mother and daughter in the video. Then, there will also be some brief performance clips, similar to those featured in Sam Smiths, 'Not The Only One' music video. This will hopefully keep the audience engaged throughout.

Within the modern day, music channels are not as popular as they are before as the answer 'every once in awhile' was mostly chosen when asked 'how often do you watch music channels?'. The younger generation are more likely to stream their music from apps, such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Deezer now. This could be due to the accessibility of having millions of songs by various different artists in one place. This gave me an insight of where my music video could be published, therefore directing my music video to a particular audience.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Music Video Target Audience

Dodie Clark currently has a Youtube audience of about 1.2 million and has approximately 151 million views on her videos that she posts. It is estimated that 76% of her viewers are actually female. This would mean that the viewers for the music video that I create is most likely going to be viewed by a primarily female audience.  A lot of her statistics also show that the optimum video time is approximately five minutes. This is ideal as the audio is approximately five minutes long.

Due to Dodie Clark not being on the You Gov profiles, I searched artists similar to her to see if I could gain further information about what type of audience I need to target. The You Gov website presents live data from real people. It is great for market research and presents the importance of researching target audiences. To gather similar information to Dodie Clark's audience, I chose Birdy to be one of the artists to study and Troye Sivan as the other. I thought that Birdy would be a good artists as her music sounds quite similar to Dodie Clark's. The You Gov data showed me that Birdy's audience is primarily female at the age of 18-24. This was taken from a large sample of 960 people, therefore it shows that the data is pretty accurate. Judging from the 'monthly spare £' section, I gathered that this audience is likely to be young as they have little to spare per month. The entertainment section also proved that the audience is most likely to be a young teenager as they had interests of stereotypical young products such as Rihanna, Sia and Bad Neighbours 2. From this data, I can apply these demographics to Dodie Clark's audience.

Interestingly, Troye Sivan's demographics showed up a little differently. Troye Sivan is another popular Youtuber, who has approximately 4.4 million subscribers. This is four times the amount that Dodie Clark has, but I figured that they roughly have the same job - creating music and sharing it online, therefore could perhaps have a similar audience. The You Gov data showed that Troye Sivan's audience is largely male. However, this data was taken from a much smaller sample group of 140 perople in comparison with Birdy at 960. The data depicts that the same age group of 18-24 listens to Troye Sivan's music. Again, this implies that the target audience are most likely to be students. The entertainment section showed similar 'young' and 'fresh' interests, like Birdy's audience. It shows other artists and films that perhaps target young audiences such as Shawn Mendes, Major Lazer and Captain America. 

I also conducted a questionnaire and found out that the most suited audience for my music video would be a young female of about 18 years of age on average.

In conclusion, I found that my target audience for the music video is most likely to be female. However, I also found out that I should not completely rule out the male gender as they still make up quite a large proportion of the Youtube Community. The research that I have conducted also proved that my main target audience is the younger generation and primarily students. From this, I gathered that I should include quite modern and fresh ideas for the video. The research also helped me gather some thoughts about the album cover as well. 

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Production Plan

Production Plan

Basic idea - The idea is to portray quite a ‘cosy’ themed video. It is ideally to be set in Winter/Autumn to depict this theme. A party theme will also be introduced through the use of paint powder, glitter and confetti.

Casting - Young girl (teenage years), relates to audience

Costume - Coat needed, relatively normal teenage clothing? Could also add scarf, gloves and wellington boots to add to the theme

Props - Confetti, glitter, paint powder, dark coloured lipstick, mirror, projector, ETC.

Equipment -

Filmed on a DSLR camera with various lenses. Ring light might be needed, could also have different coloured filters?
Lenses - a 50mm, a 55-250mm and a 18-55mm

Roles:

Director(s) - Georgette Fischer & Millie McIntosh

Cameraperson(s) - Georgette Fischer & Millie McIntosh

Editor - Georgette Fischer

Music - Dodie Clark - Party Tattoos

Week 1	Filming on October 13th	Run through lyrics and film appropriate clips
Week 2	Filming	^
Week 3	Filming	^
Week 4	Filming	^
Week 5	Editing	Select clips to use
Week 6	Editing	Edit clips together
Week 7	Editing	Add finishing touches
Week 8	Evaluation	Answer questions for blog

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Mind Map of Ideas

This mind map includes the very basic foundation ideas of the music video. It includes some key props and settings that I could possibly include. The mind map also displays my initial thoughts and about the song. I really want to make this music video quite a feel good song as I would describe it as quite delicate and light. When I think of a cosy theme, I primarily think of fairy lights, hot chocolate Winter. From this, I start to think about clothing such as scarves, gloves and wellington boots. I think that the music video will have quite a 'British Winter' feel to it.

I also want to include some interesting types of cinematography such as stop motions and time lapses. I would like to include these as I think it would add to the cosy theme I am trying to portray and it would also keep the audience engaged as it might not be something that they expect. Due to the lyrics being quite literal, they need a creative flair to them to keep the video beguiling.

I also wanted to include a party theme as that is what the song is mainly about. For this, I decided it that the shots don't necessarily have to be a group of teenagers jumping around and screaming. It could be about a person who does not really fit in with the 'party vibe', but still feels as if she has to go to as it has become the 'norm'. To portray this, I would like to include props such as powdered paint, glitter and confetti.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: CD Cover Analysis - Print Research

The cover album for Illuminate is a deep green colour. At the top of the album is the artist’s name with the album’s name. It is written in a blocked font, so it is easy for a potential customer to read. The image is of Shawn Mendes with a guitar. He is positioned so he is in the foreground and the chair is more in the background. The colour palette is muted and processed, however it all blends in well together. Shawn Mendes is also holding a guitar, highlighting the type of music he produces. The back of the album displays all the songs, but instead of using a block type font, he uses a handwritten font. This creates a more authentic look and a personal connection for the fans. The end of the guitar is also featured on the back, which hints that most of the songs are written by him.

‘Continued Silence’ by Imagine Dragons has quite a unique album cover. A man floating in mid air depicts isolation, but also follows all of the other covers that Imagine Dragons have done. Each album has a person standing in isolation, all relating to the album title. The person floating is the main subject of the image, therefore the viewer’s eye looks at it first. In the background, the viewer can see fog in the distance as well as trees. This might indicate a feeling of loneliness and could represent the journey that Imagine Dragons have to take/have already taken. The image is very cool toned, adding to the eeriness of the image - possibly hinting at the type of music that is on the album. On the back of the album, the mysterious woodland environment is continued. The font displaying the names of the tracks really stands out, highlighting the importance of them.

The McBusted CD is quite simplistic. They didn’t have to work on the composition of where the title and artist name went as the title and artist name is the same. The band name/title is quite big and in a bold red colour, making it stand out and easily visible. It is also quite slanted, hinting that this album cover could be quite quirky. The image is quite humorous as the six of them can be seen suspiciously creeping around whilst a security camera is above them. A bold, bright colour palette is used on this album colour as it fits in with the genre of music. The reverse side to the CD also remains quite humorous as the viewer is able to see what the group is up to. They all remain quite mischievous and both the front and back of the album - portraying their attitudes as a band.

Jason Derulo’s album. ‘Everything Is 4’ has quite a literal meaning. The number four has been brought right to the front of the foreground, representing that this is his fourth album. The viewer can infer that this is a super proud achievement of his.It really stands out to a potential customer as it is bold and clear. There isn’t a lot of bright colours within this album, indicating that it could possibly be a much more serious album than before. Also, half of the image on the front and back is in black and white. It highlights that maybe his music has taken a slight change and he is leaving some of his old styled music in the past. The artist’s name is in a block font, again standing out to people. The image on the front is of the artist starring straight at the camera, giving the viewer a personal connection. On the back is another picture of the artist, almost looking down at the tracks which are written on the bottom of the CD cover. The white font of the text juxtaposes the background colour, making it easier for viewers to read.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Lyric Analysis - My Music Video

These are some basic lyric analysis. Analysing the lyrics helped me to start storyboarding for how I wanted the music video to look. They also helped me to understand the concept and narrative more.