I conducted a costume list by uploading images on to the app 'InstaCollage'. This includes particular clothing that our main lead (Kala Hill) will wear for our music video:
f
We have carefully considered what type of clothing would be most suitable for Kala to wear, as she will be mimicking Kesha's style. For example we have chosen gold glitter shorts, as Kesha is known for incorporating glitter into her outfits as well as make up. Kesha tends to opt for bright clothing, which will be reflected in the bright aztec dress/crop top that we have chosen.
Kesha caters for the male gaze in her videos, by wearing 'sexy' and provocative clothing. We will achieve this look through the use of shorts, as well as crop tops and heels. This is conventional for the pop genre, for an example Katy Perry is denoted as wearing bikinis for video 'California Girls'.
Near the end of the song 'Crazy Kids', there is a slower more part, in which Kesha expresses her emotions through singing soulfully. For this part of the song we will have our lead in the fluffy white jumper with red hearts. This will connote a sense of softness, and will contrast the crazy and bright outfits, which accompany the rest of upbeat song.
Rumena Ahmed conducted a health and safety risk assessment, and then uploaded it onto SlideShare.
By doing this we became more conscious of any risks or dangers that may occur, whilst filming. This allows us to remain prepared in case of any emergencies, which may possibly arise in certain situations. This makes sure that the safety of those involved in making the music video, is considered through out.
Rumena Ahmed conducted a filming schedule on behalf of the group.
This enabled us to know what shot we were filming, in our differing locations. This was essential as we have many locations, which we intend to incorporate in our video. This will enable us to plan what needs to shot on what day, hence improving our organisation skills. This ensures that filming runs as smoothly as possible, as we will be able to have things ready beforehand.
On behalf of my group, I completed a shortlist of our video, and the uploaded it via SlideShare. This will enable us to know exactly what to film, at what location, and what point in the song. This will help us keep track of filming, and will improve our organisation skills.
Chloe Connell took the role of drawing out the storyboard, and then decided to upload it onto SlideShare, due to the large amount of pages. We may find that we don't stick to the storyboard completely, as changes may be made. Despite this the storyboard enables us to know exactly what to film, in what location. As Chloe included shot types and lyrics, we know exactly what to film at particular parts of the song.
As a part of research, Chloe Connell gathered information on Kesha. This will help us to gain deeper knowledge of our artist:
While Ishpreet was creating the Laura Mulvey male gaze I decided to research into Kesha.
Kesha who is also known as Kesha Rose Sebert was born in Los Angeles, California in 1987, she is formally a singer, songwriter and rapper. She had her major breakthrough while appearing in Flo Rida's hit single ''Right Round'', this was then her first major few steps to becoming more famous and getting publicly known worldwide.
Kesha attended Brentwood High school and studied songwriting classes and often learned how to sing many of her mothers Pebe songs and on many occasions started songwriting together, this is how Kesha gathered her passion for music.
Kesha also has featured her own documentary which premiered on MTV which followed her going on her tour and her day to day life. This enabled her fans to gain an insight to her life and see her working in the studios below is the first episode of her documentary which I interpreted for additional research as it allows viewers to see Kesha for what she is like rather than what they read or see about her.
I individually researched into Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze, as well as applying it to Kesha's videos and our own:
Laura Mulvey is British feminist as well as film theorist, who introduces the concept of the 'male gaze'. The male gaze refers to the way in which cameras, predominately focus on women as being shown sexual object of desire. By doing this the audience view the female, through the eyes of a heterosexual male. Women can be seen as a sexualised objects in many differing platforms of media, from magazine covers, films, music videos, and so on. This can be done through things such as provocative actions, clothing or even the way men respond or react to women.
Catering for the male gaze is a typical convention of the pop genre. Many female artists such as Katy Perry and Beyoncé, are known for their 'sexiness' and raunchy videos. After viewing various videos of Kesha's (our artist), we could see that many of her music videos also caterers for the male gaze. Below are screen shots from youtube of Kesha's music videos, which can apply to the male gaze:
The first screen shot is taken from the music video 'We R Who We R'. Kesha is denoted as wearing a provocative American print top, which has a large rip at the chest. This caters for the male gaze, as it enables the audience to catch a glimpse of Kesha's breasts.
The second screen shot is taken from the music video 'Die young'. Here Kesha is denoted as laying on a mattress in a provocative manner, wearing little clothing. This shot caters for the male gaze, as it emphasises Kesha's legs, breasts and stomach.
This research has been helpful in creating our music video. This is as we have learned to incorporated scenes and shots which cater for the male gaze; as this is typical of the pop genre as well as Kesha's 'sexy' image. Below is a screen shot which shows a shot we filmed of the lead (Kala Hill) for our music video. Our lead is denotes as laying on a bed, which is similar to the screen shot above. The shot pays particular focus to Kala's legs, which can be conventional of a pop video. However my group and I were full aware of the possibility, that Kala's shirt may have been too revealing when she was laying down. In order to prevent this, we requested Kala to wear black shorts underneath the shirt.
Following our draft treatment and padlet response, as a group we decided on amendments according to what people suggested. Chloe Connell and I took to re-constructing the narrative, in order to fix or improve any areas. For an example a respondent suggested that we get various shots that link to a theme of 'crazy kids'. So for the beginning we will instead show our lead having woken up in the evening (from intense partying); which will connote her hectic and fun lifestyle.
Outline of ideas for music video (narrative, characterisation, concept etc…)
Our music video will start of with the female lead, waking up in the evening from intense partying the days before. Peopleshown doing a unique dance routine; which later in the sequence people are shown doing aswell. Cuts to the lead singing against a starry background, and then cuts to school lab earlier that day of everyone making drinks in a lab (replace alcoholic products). We will ensure to have a close up on this, to make it clear that they are not alcoholic.
Then the scene cuts to the female lead and her friends walking to the party and then shots of people in the party, not having a very good time. Thereafter, female lead and her friends put down a large bowl of a substance which then is given to the guests and the party livens up and more funky items are placed in the party to connote that the party was boring before.
Female lead and her friend are shown taking shots of the substance.
Resources that will be needed? (actors, props, settings, technical resources)
Chloe Connell and I set up a pad let in class; in order to receive responses to our draft treatment. After having read our draft treatment, people offered critique on what they liked and what could be improved. This will be helpful when re-drafting our treatment, as it will enable us to make changes according to what our target audience want. An example of what was particularly liked about our narrative, was the 'crazy party' theme so this will be kept in our video. A suggestion made was to ensure that the use of no alcohol is emphasised.
My group and i came together to discuss the potential narrative and ideas that we could include in our pop music video. We brainstormed various things and eventually came up with ideas we all agreed upon. We based our ideas upon the responses we received from our questionnaires. By doing this we intend for our target audience to enjoy the music video; as we included factors they said they would want to see e.g a party scene. This will be helpful when filming the video, as we will have a set narrative to follow.
Name of artist: Kesha
Title of track: Crazy Kids
Outline of ideas for music video (narrative, characterisation, concept etc…)
Our music video will start of with the female lead, preparing for a night out with her friends. The lead female looks into the mirror as she begins to get ready; her friends appear to glow in the dark paint to their faces. Peopleshown doing a unique dance routine; which later in the sequence people are shown doing aswell. Cuts to the lead singing against a starry background, and then cuts to school lab earlier that day of everyone making drinks in a lab (replace alcoholic products).
Then the scene cuts to the female lead and her friends walking to the party and then shots of people in the party, not having a very good time. Thereafter, female lead and her friends put down a large bowl of a substance which then is given to the guests and the party livens up and more funky items are placed in the party to connote that the party was boring before.
Female lead and her friend are shown taking shots of the substance.
Resources that will be needed? (actors, props, settings, technical resources)
·Actors
·Backdrops/green screen
·Chemistry lab- lab coats
·Glitter/make up for actors
·Costume
·Big space
·Lights
·Mirror
·Glow in the dark paint/ glow sticks
·Party decorations
Justification of ideas relating to artist, genre and audience questionnaire and focus group information:
We are thinking of doing a party scene, as it was one of the most popular options from the questionnaire. Also this would be typical for Kesha as she is seen to be an outrageous and fun artist. Bright things such as glow in the dark paint and make up are typical of Kesha, as she is particularly associated and known for having incorporating these things in her style and her video. The shots will be fast paced, as this is typical of a pop video.
After reviewing the Questionnaire and Focus group, we ensured that the narrative was audience specific and was similar to the pop genre.
My group and i gathered a focus group of females, with age range of 17-19. We chose this particular group as it, reflected the majority of our target group, and respondents of our questionnaire. Looking back at our questionnaire, I chose and developed certain questions, which we would then have asked our focus group. We begun the focus group process by playing our chosen song for our music video, which is 'Crazy Kids' by Kesha. After having allowed them to listen to the song, we asked particularly important questions which we developed from our questionnaire. This enabled us to gain in depth knowledge as to what our target would want to see from our music video, as well as what we should avoid. Below is the video for our focus group, which was edited and uploaded by Rumena Ahmed. Chloe Connell filmed the focus group, while Rumena Ahmed and I took to reading out the questions.
Conducting this focus group was immensely helpful, as we learned what we could include in our narrative. For example from our questionnaire results analysis, we discovered that the two most popular themes for our video were 'partying' and 'humour'. Due to this we asked the group what they would consider to be humorous. From this we learned that our audience would find humour in a narrative which was unusual, as well as bright and unusual. In order to achieve this, my group I will attempt to use bright and colourful backgrounds, as well as make our narrative fun by including more people who accompany our star.
Another important question we asked our group, was ideas as to what we could substitute alcohol with. Due to the age restrictions regarding alcohol, we would be unable to include real alcoholic products within our video. Our group suggested we use bright coloured liquid, which would tie in with the 'crazy' and 'humorous' theme. Taking this into consideration, we will attempt to have our main star creating drinks in a science lab. This will connote craziness, hence linking to Kesha's image as her videos are known to be outrageous.
In order to find out what in particular our audience would not like to see in our video, we asked what they dislike about music videos. One member of the group mentioned how they dislike long paced shots, as they can become boring. In order to prevent this, we will try and film fast paced shots to keep our audience entertained. This is especially typical of the pop genre, including many of Kesha's videos such as 'We R Who We R'. Adding to this, we will also try to incorporate different settings and locations within the fast shots; which is also conventional of pop videos.
In lesson we all did a frame analysis for typical pop conventions, when analysing 'Telephone' by Lady Gaga and Beyonce. A convention can be defined as something which is typical or usually expected from something; in this case the pop genre. After having analysed 'Telephone', we went on to choose individual pop music videos, and took to analysing typical pop conventions through screenshots. I chose the music video for 'Waking up in Vegas' by pop artist Katy Perry; I chose 6 still frames and analysed the pop conventions used within them. This activity will be helpful when conducting our music video, as we will know what conventions to incorporate into it, in order to make it typical.
Within lesson we established the importance and restrictions regarding copyright. Copyright enables the creator of a piece of work (e.g artists), to decide how, or if it can be used by others parties. Copyright laws provide protection to the original creator; and can do this by ensuring the creator knows when their work is allowed to be used by others. Using copyright material could result in serious consequences, such as being sued by the owners of the work. Taking this into consideration, it was essential that my group and I, wrote to the record company that signed Kesha. We wanted to assure them that we are A level students, who will be using 'Crazy kids' with no profitable intentions. I wrote a letter to the founder of Kemosabe records. I wrote in regards to gaining permission to use Kesha's song 'Crazy kids', for our group music video.
Rumena Ahmed (team member) and I focused on creating relevant questions for our questionnaire, while Chloe Connell (team member) uploaded them via SurveyMonkey. The questions were created with the purpose, of knowing what our target audience would prefer in our video. We will use this in the future when it comes to filming our video, as we try and meet the what our target audience prefers. Below is a sample picture, as well as the link to our questionnaire:
After having done this, we uploaded this link via social networking sites such as twitter. After we received the results from the survey, I conducted a PowerPoint analysing the answers to our questions and included the names of myself and my group members at the end:
In class we discussed how it is vital to know our target audience, through demographics and pyschograohics and demographics. Demographics being factual information such as age, and psychographics such as likes and dislikes. My group and I then went on to establishing the demographics and psychographics, of the target audience for our chosen pop artist Kesha.
This enabled us to specify a particular audience, and will help us conducting our music video. For an example I know that our audience will be mainly female; this means we will attempt to have out music video predominately female orientated. In my opinion the more information we have on them, the easier it will be to cater for them.
Below is the detailed prezi presentation I created, which displays the psychographics and demographics of our target audience.
Within our prezi I established that the target audience of Kesha, may be interested in other popular pop artists such as Katy Perry. I then went on for further research by uploading the video for 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)' by Katy Perry, and made note of typical pop video conventions which can apply to our own music video. There is a narrative and bright mise-en-scenin the video, which are typical conventions of a pop video. We will want to apply this to our music video.
Adding to that Chloe Connell used the website polyvore, to choose a selection of clothing we believe is associated with Kesha. I think Kesha is known for her unique and bright style, so in our music video we will have to consider this when allocating costumes to the main leads.
In class today we looked over audience theories, and how they can link back to music videos.
One of theories was the 'effects model theory', which is also known as the 'hypodermic model'. The idea of this theory is that the media mainly has a negative effect on its audience; and that they are powerless and passive when taking it in. This can link back to music videos through the message and images that are being portrayed. For an example a video showing intense violence could alter the thoughts and behaviour of the media consumer, and they may want to imitate what they see. The 'hypodermic needle' aspect can link back to the audience, as they are perceived to be 'injected' with media messages that they cannot ignore. The theory has been tested through the Bobo Doll experiment. This involved young children watching adults behave violently towards a Bobo doll; which resulted in the children copying the behaviour towards the doll. This can again link back to how the audience may view something in music videos, which influences them to do the same.
In contrast the 'Uses and Gratification Model' theory by Blumler and Katz, goes against the above. This theory suggests that media consumers are in fact active, and are more than free to reject any negative messages. For an example when watching music videos, the audience can choose what messages to reject or accept. They can decide how to interpret the meanings, and make it their own. The theory states that media producers may design their texts, to appeal to the four different needs and wants that the audience may have. One of these is information. A consumer may seek out a music video for advice, curiosity, interest etc. Another is personal identity; a music video could help reinforce personal values. It may also help someone in finding role models. Social interaction may also be another aspect, in which watching a certain music video could provide a basis of conversation for those around. Adding to that it could enable people to connect with friends, family as well as society. The final reason could be entertainment; music videos could allow someone to escape from their problems. It may provide enjoyment, release from emotional stress etc.
As a class we looked at the Chase and Status music video for 'Time', which both theories can be applied to. The video is based around domestic violence in a household, through the eyes of a girl. She repeatedly witnesses her mother being beaten by her father, and decides to do something about it by alerting the police. This lands the father in jail.
Using the idea of the 'effects model' and assuming the audience are passive and powerless; the male in the video is perceived to be violent whereas the female is vulnerable. She holds the stereotype of being the 'damsel in distress'. This can be seen when the husband is denoted as beating his wife, and she is seen crying but does not have the courage to leave. This connotes that men are intimidating and dangerous, and are more dominant than women who are powerless. This links back to the 'effects model' as this idea is enforced and 'injected' into the media consumer. However there is a positive message from the video's storyline, as the husband is taken away to prison through the bravery of teenage daughter. The end of the video shows the helpline 'Refuge' which fights against domestic violence; this shows that there is help and support out there for sufferers.
In contrast the 'uses and gratification model' can also be applied to the video. This idea plays on the viewers personal identity, through reinforcing moral values. This means that when they see the domestic violence portrayed in the video; they see it as something that is not acceptable and should be stopped. If viewers can relate to the video, they may watch it for the information and advice that can be gained. For an example they be encouraged to stand up and take action on such a situation, as did the teenage daughter whilst seeking help from the 'Refuge' helpline. The daughter can be classed as a role model for the viewers. As the storyline of the video is very hard hitting, so consumers of it may use it as a basis of conversation and connecting with others.
I then independently went on to choose a music video of my choice, which I also analysed using the theories. I chose the video to protest song 'Ill Manors' by Plan B. This video is based around the 2011 London riots and includes clips from it; as well satirical images of politicians. It includes intense violence and anti-social behaviour from youths, and is supposed to mirror 'the failure to nurture disadvantaged youths' as said by Plan B.
Using the 'effects model' theory the messages taken from this video may be highly negative. The 'passive and powerless' audience may be influenced by the violence and anti-social behaviour, and feel the only way to have themselves heard in society is to behave the same way. For an example the youths are see as being violent towards one an another, and doing deviant things such as setting cars alight. They are going against the norms and values of mainstream society, which are 'injected' into the passive consumers. Also the video may alter the media consumers thoughts on youth, and make them feel that they are intimidating and offensive. They can be seen being offensive frequently through the video with the use of hand gestures, and wearing 'hoodies' which may then hold the iconography of being a deviant.
The 'uses and gratification model' can also be put in place. With this idea the audience use the message of the music video; and agree with the intention of Plan B's message. This is that they also may feel that the youths are behaving in an anti-social manner; as they are disadvantaged and have not been as nurtured as they should be by the government. Instead of mimicking the actions of the youths, they may want to do something about it and make a positive change. The narrative of the music video is highly controversial and gripping, for this reason consumers may seek it out for entertainment purposes. In addition to that they may watch it for social interaction, and use it as a base and starting point in conversations with others around them. The message of the video can help reinforce the audiences morals and values, and think that imitating the acts of the youths does not have to be the way forward.
In my opinion I think that both theories entirely depend on the consumer receiving them. They may have stronger morals and values, and easily be able to interpret the message of music videos according to their own thoughts. They can follow the 'uses and gratification' model, as they are stronger willed than others. There can be consumers who may be weaker, hence fitting in with the 'effects' model. They may allow themselves to be manipulated by the message of the media text.
I seek out media texts (this being music videos in particular), for its entertainment purposes. I choose to interpret the message according to what I think it means. However, seeing as I engage in music videos very often, I may unknowingly be constantly taking in the 'media drug'. It is fair to say that I as well as the people around me, can easily be influenced by a media text when it involves a popular celebrity that we all admire and adore.
My name is Ishpreet Sundal, candidate number 3163. I am a 17 year old student studying at Swakeleys sixth form.
Last year as a part of our AS course, we studied and analysed British TV. We discussed representations and sterotypes of different social groups. Moving on from that we studied different aspects of the music industry, for an exaple distribution. For our courework we produced a short film opening with the genre of our choice; we then evaluated it.
In this blog I will be doing:
G324 Advanced Portfolio
Brief number 1 – a promotional package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video together with a digipakfor the album’s release and a magazine advertisement for the digipak.
