PRODUCTION: Creative Journey - Post Four - 31/10/17

Today, I started cutting and editing relevant clips. I came across a minor problem as I found out that my .MOV files were not supported on the school laptops for some reason. So, I began converting them into .MPEG files. However, when I logged onto the media computers, .MOV files were supported on Premiere Pro. Therefore, I am going to have to try and refrain from using the school laptops to edit on in the future as it took me a while to use Adobe Media Encoder to convert some of the clips.
I am happy with how the editing process is going so far. When the subject mimes the lyrics, it syncs perfectly with the actual music. I am currently using some of the basic skills that I learnt from my AS project, such as slicing and unlinking audio from clips for the initial edit.

PRODUCTION: Creative Journey - Post Three - 30/10/17

Today, I have been working on the initial editing stages. Before half term, I created a title for my music video, however I was not really happy with it as it looked plain and boring. However, today I watched some tutorials and decided to recreate my title. I am really happy with the flow of the title now as it is engaging and looks visually pleasing.


I created this title using After Effects. I selected an appropriate font and used the 'pen tool' to follow the text as if I were to write it by hand. After I had written up all of the text, I increased the opacity to the highest that it would go - making the surroundings of the font white in colour. I then inverted the text, so that the original text/font showed. I then created a path and skipped between frames so that the text would unveil slightly at a time. I made sure to stick to strict time limits of around four-six seconds as the music does not have a very long intro time.

PRODUCTION: Creative Journey - Post Three - 25/10/17

Today, I have filmed some of the main scenes within my video. The main shots were filmed inside, however we did shoot a few scenes outside as well. I made sure to take a variation of shots of each scene so that I have a lot of choice when editing the scenes together.

I am happy with how the footage turned out. I now need to find out how to add colour correction to the clips so that they fit in within the pastel theme. 

The next steps within my creative journey will be to film the rest of the music video. I will aim to do this within the next 1-2 weeks. I have made a list of what I need to film and where I need to film. I also need to purchase some props such as an acrylic sheet, confetti, party poppers and glitter. 

Upon my return to sixth form after half term next week, I will begin to edit the footage that I have already filmed. I believe that this will be easier than editing the footage all in one go. 

PRODUCTION: Creative Journey - Post Two - 14/10/17

Today, I finished my final storyboard for my music video, ready for filming. This was my first time using the website 'Storyboard That' to design and complete as story board. I did find it somewhat difficult as I couldn't go into as much detail as I would have liked to. A further analysis of this can be found in my 'Story Board - Final' post.

I have also composed an email to Dodie Clark, requesting permission to use her song for my music video.

My next steps will be to actually start filming the clips depicted within the storyboard. I will start with the simple, artistic shots as I do not need any of the cast to film those clips. I will begin filming these small clips on the week commencing 16/10/2017.

I am going to film quite a large chunk of the music video on the week beginning 23/10/2017. During this week, I will have the actress within the video on hand to film some of the main shoots.

PRODUCTION: Creative Journey - Post One - 13/10/17

Today, I completed my prototype designs for my album cover. I primarily used my iPhone 7 to complete this task as I could download apps to help me complete this task with ease. I could have also used Photoshop for this task. I made sure that the images I selected for this task were either my own or copyright free images, so I had full permission to use them.

Below, I have attached some of the starting images I created whilst making the album cover. The main images below show the basic background of the album cover. I began with separate pastel pink and blue colours and then merged them together. I also made sure to screenshot some of my progression steps. The photos below show my progression in making the text and selecting the right colour for it in a free iPhone app called Phonto. Again, other platforms could have been used to create the text, however I used this app as it created ease of making.

I also attempted to design the cover in an app called 'Spark Post', however this was unsuccessful as a lot of the features you had to pay extra for. I did like how you were able to layer the fonts in this app, but it just did not do what I needed it to for free.

 

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Final Proposal

Title of Production:

Party Tattoos by Dodie Clark (Unofficial Music Video)

Channel for Broadcast:

If my music video was to be uploaded onto Youtube, it most likely would be uploaded onto Dodie Clark's Vevo channel. Vevo was created by Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media. The video hosting platform claims that it is 'your personalised music video and entertainment platform'. A lot of artists who want to upload a music video onto Youtube will often have a Vevo channel as it is the second largest music video in the world, due to this artist's may make more money from using a Vevo channel rather than Youtube. However, the music video could also be uploaded onto Dodie Clark's own Youtube channel as she has a following of nearly 1.5 million subscribers. If my music video was played on a TV music channel, I think that it would most likely be MTV. My reasoning for this is because MTV often play pop music videos and I believe that my music video would come under the 'Indie Pop' genre, so it would be acceptable to be played on MTV.

Target Audience:

I have clarified that my music video target audience will most likely be young women of between the ages of 13-21. I believe that this will be the case as this is the main target of Dodie Clark's Youtube audience. I think that this would be my target audience as it is the main group that stands out in Clark's demographics. Another reason I am led to believe this is due to my research in other Indie Pop artists. The Indie Pop artists that I researched included Florence And the Machine, Birdy and Lorde. I decided to research three artists I though that it would give me a more specific answer.

As you can see from the YouGov screenshots, all of the target audiences are in the category of female, aged 18-24. This is also fitting with my target audience. 

Genre/Type of Music Video:

My genre of music video fits under the Indie Pop genre. I think that my music video follows the narrative and performance based types of music video as there is elements of both types of video throughout my own video. I would regard most of Dodie Clark's videos as Narrative/Performance based.

Style of Music Video:

I have explained in my pitch previously, that I want to keep the music video quite cosy as I believe this mirrors Clark's music and Youtube videos. I think I am going to try to do this by maybe having some sort of fairy lights or record players within the video. I also want to conform to Indie Pop music video conventions by having a woodland setting within this video so that the audience can clearly identify that it is of the Indie Pop genre. 

Along with this, I want to portray the 'literal' tattoos, so I think I want to use a projector to try and project some tattoos onto my actress' skin. Due to the music video being performance based, I plan to have my actress miming to the camera and possibly playing the ukulele or the guitar. 

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Risk Assessment

Above is my risk assessment, focusing on the filming aspects of the music video. It shows who will be directly impacted by the risk, how severe the risk would be if it were to happen, how likely the risk is whilst filming and the risk rating. After this, it shows how I will control the risk whilst filming and what I could do to prevent the risk. It then shows the risk rating and the likelihood of the risk after I have controlled it.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Casting My Lead

The music video will only require one or two people to be cast. However for now, I have cast my main lead as Millie McIntosh. Millie will be acting as the artist, Dodie Clark. Millie does not have much acting experience, but I think that the plot underlines quite clear emotions which I believe she can carry out in the video. Millie also studies Media, so she will understand the brief that I am expected to complete and will act accordingly to my directing and ideas. She will be required to wear quite casual, yet indie clothing. Ideas for this could include dungarees, Dr Martens, ETC. The lyrics are quite literal and I am trying to mirror this by creating quite literal visuals. One of the lyrics is about a coat, so Millie will most likely need to wear a coat in some of the shots, but I can provide this. I don't think that Millie is required to bring any props of her own. Any props that are needed throughout the filming process will most likely be provided by myself.

I am nearing to the end of my filming process now and I believe that I have successfully matched my casting brief, with the image of my lead below.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Age Rating - Analysis Of Other Age Rated Videos ADD PHOTO

In October 2014, a decision was made to add an age rating to online music videos. The main reason for deciding to age rate each music video that is put on online platforms such as YouTube and Vevo is due to parents wanting more of a guidance as to what their children should be watching. The age ratings are 12, 15 or 18. The age rating is based on how much unsuitable/upsetting content a music video contains. In mid 2015, research was carried out to explore if these age ratings were useful to parents within the UK. 78% of parents agreed that having an age rating was useful. A major issue with the age rating scheme is that it only applies to music videos that are produced in the UK. Therefore, music videos that are produced outside of the UK will be widely accessible to younger audiences and will not have an age rating.


Music videos such as Sia's Elastic Heart created some stir upon social media as a young girl and an older man were depicted to having an 'animalistic dance-fight mash-up in a cage'. This created a lot of noise on social media, which led to Sia tweeting this:




Personally, I think that this age rating pilot does have a effect on young children and parents. However, I don't think that the effect is enough as it needs to be introduced more widely for it to have a large impact. It has been proved by the American Physiological Association that extreme themes in media products has caused effects such as depression and eating disorders. If age ratings were widely introduced, this could reduce the impacts on young people.


In my opinion, I do not think that my music video includes any particular heavy themes. There is a brief visual of alcohol and the only unsuitable theme it includes is partying. Due to this, I think I would personally give my music video a 12 age rating. Some parents of younger people do not want their children to be exposed to themes such as drinking alcohol and partying.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Copyright - Email For Permission to use Dodie Clark's Music

Contact details for Dodie Clark. She is not signed to a record label, so I thought the best way to contact her would be directly to her email, as seen above - info@dodieclark.com

Below, I have attached the written email to Dodie Clark, requesting permission for the use of her song, Party Tattoos.

Subject: Copyright Permission

Email Contents:

Dear Miss Dodie Clark,

For my current A Level Media Studies coursework, I am required to create a music video, digipak and magazine advert for a song of my choice. I am requesting to use the song ‘Party Tattoos’ by Dodie Clark for this task. The music will be used in an non profitable, educational way. Once I have completed making my music video, it shall only be displayed on a minor Youtube channel and my advanced portfolio blog for the purposes of examination. I fully understand the consequences of copyright infringement, therefore I decided to email you to request the permission of the song. I really hope you consider my request as I am truly a big fan of your music.

Thank you in advance,

Georgette Fischer

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Story Board - Final

Directly above, you can see the storyboard that I have digitally made with colour. I completed this storyboard with a website called 'Storyboard That'. The website was easy to use, however it did have some limitations. For example, I could not go into detail with some of the aspects of my visuals as the website did not have the facilities to allow me to do so. This storyboard follows the structure of my original storyboard, which can be seen on the 'storyboard drafts post'. However, I did have to change some scenes such as the end scene. For this particular storyboard I set the last image as a split screen with the younger and older version of the girl/lady looking at one another. My original storyboard shows the projections of tattoos on different teenagers of different race/gender and I think that I will go ahead with this idea, but perhaps insert the split screen idea else where in the video.

I also recognised that colour is important within the video. At the start, I have taken mise en scene into consideration and will be using a blue overlay. The colour blue connotes sadness, which is an emotion the character will be feeling as she is arguing with her mother and when she is generally feeling down about not fitting in (boxes two and three). However, when she is at the party the overlay colour will change to pink to reflect her feelings.

There may be a missing part of the narrative as one of the latter boxes shows a elderly woman burning a picture of her 'friend' that she made at the party. This is a gap in the narrative as the audience wonders what happened to her friend. I felt like this added a sympathetic tone to the narrative. The audience will be enlightened though as in the previous box the lady is shown to be writing a letter to her mother, showing that their broken relationship has now been mended. 

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: Story Board Draft (sketches) - Party Tattoos

The following are some examples of some brief sketches that I am planning to recreate within my music video. Each box shows the type of shot that I am planning to use. In the first box, there is a shot of a clock. This will be a stop motion shot of the handles turning to incorporated artistic shots. It represents how quickly time goes and the first lyrics 'took a look at the clock only so long ago'.

Shot number 2 is the visual for 'scrubbing smooth young skin', I am planning to use a coffee scrub for this. The lyrics represent a young person almost trying to remove the shame and guilt.

Shot number 3 depicts a teenager getting ready for a party. She grabs her bottle of alcohol and her backpack before heading out the door

there is an image of the sky, I am planning to use a time lapse of the sky or a busy road with the cars speeding past as I believe it would make an interesting shot for the viewer to see and it matches up with the lyrics 'you'll see it in the morning after your kicks'. So, I could maybe shoot a time lapse of the daytime sky and then blend it in with a shot of the night time sky.

The next shot is of a clock on a rocking chair, which is a visual to match with they lyrics 'rocking good time'. This adds a bit of humour to the video as the 'time is actually rocking'. I thought that this would make an interesting concept. Again, humour is added with the next frame as it is simply a post it note with the word 'yes' on someone's head, representing the lyrics 'there's a yes, in your head'.

The next shot is of a young person dropping a bottle of alcohol, fitting in with the lyrics 'you'll lose it in the morning but ignore that'. This depicts a party sort of scene, fitting in with one of the themes. Carrying on with this aspect, the next frame is glitter, paint powder and confetti all thrown at an acrylic pane in front of the camera. I thought that this would be an interesting concept to visually see.

'Black lipstick will never be a sin' literally has the visual of black lipstick in the shape of a cross on a mirror. I felt like this had connotations of conflict between religion and partying. The character in the video will be wearing black lipstick throughout.

The video then takes a slight loop as we see a repeat of the frame of the person dropping the alcohol bottle. However, it is clearly visible that the character has now aged. It makes the audience question whether they have changed or not. This fits in with the lyrics 'we'll regret it when we're old with wrinkled up skin'.

Again, to make the lyrics literal, I decided to have a person wearing a coat walking out the door to fit in with the lyrics, 'my mummy said to always wear a coat'. Due to the shot walking out of the door, the audience will hopefully question if there is maybe some slight conflict with the teenager and the parent. To depict this further, I could film a mid shot of the teenager taking the coat of once they are out of the door. This then leads to a shot of the character shivering, portraying that she should have listened to her mum.

Then, a shot of an older version of the character is reintroduced. She is shown writing a postcard to fit in with the lyrics 'write a postcard to you at 84'. The audience could infer that she is perhaps writing to her mother, leading them to question if the conflict has now been resolved.

An interesting shot of a photo being set alight can then be seen, highlighting that the character has finally listened to her mother. To end the video, I am going to project various tattoos onto people, perhaps highlighting that words scar like permanent tattoos, portraying the conflict between the mother and daughter. Maybe the main character should have a tattoo on her wrist throughout the video, almost representing her youth.