Casting of Performers - Print Productions & Video

I chose my performers based on their appearance and desirability for the role they are going to play, as well as how available they'll be for rehearsals and filming.

Gill

My friend Gill will be Janelle Monáe in the song. I picked her because she has quite a smart look that is similar to Janelle's in her music videos, and she does dance and performing arts at college, so will most certainly be appropriate for the choreography part of the music video.

Freddi

Freddi, also a friend of mine, will play Prince's part in the song. He is of the same ethnic background as Prince, so I felt he would look appropriate for the role, as well as being confident in front of the camera. As he is not at college and is in part time work, he can be free almost every day of the week, for filming and rehearsing.

Role	Who?	Contact Details
Main Dancer/Performer/ Singer/Star	Gill	Available on request
Secondary Performer (featured artist)	Freddi	Available on request

Storyboard - Planning & Video

Risk Assessment - Planning, Print Productions & Video

Potential danger	Potential outcomes	Actions to avoid potential outcomes	Benefits of filming in this location	Do benefits outweigh risks?
Tripping over lighting kit/power cables (studio)	Serious injury/electrocution	Cables are to be taped to the floor for the duration of each shoot	(Lighting kits to be used in studio only) I can get the exact background and lighting by using a studio for certain shots	Yes
Tripping and falling off the slightly raised edge of the platform (studio)	Serious injury	Ensure the step is made clearly visible and known, with enough light in the studio to see it at all times	The studio is required in order to get certain shots, such as a silhouette of performer/s.	Yes
Parked and moving cars (outside)	Serious injury/being knocked down	Any outdoor filming will be done in quiet, fully-lit (if shooting at night) residential areas	Shot varieties. Shooting outside will give a different dimension to the narrative and add some increased interest	Yes
Animals/pets (if Charlie’s house is chosen as a shooting location for certain elements of the video)	Allergic reaction	All pets will be banned from the shooting room/area. All performers will be warned in advance of pets on the premises.	Charlie’s house, if chosen, will be required for some shots as an easy and highly effective alternative to a full-size studio.	Yes

Time Management - Planning

http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/music-video-time-management--3

Research of Target Audience & Audience Profile - Planning, Print Productions & Video

I created a Facebook group and added friends who were appropriate for 1) the target audience (17-21 year olds) and 2) responding with the type of feedback I need, and not with comments simply just stating that they love it, for example.

I will use this group for my digipak, the magazine advertisement and the final music video, and will upload each in the developing stages as they happen.


I also created a powerpoint presentation showing the audience profile for my chosen genre:



Audience Profile summary:
- You love to dance alone in your bedroom to your favourite songs whilst getting ready for the day.
- You cannot even begin to think of setting out in your car without first putting on some music.
- America's Next Top Model is your guilty pleasure.
- You dream of relaxing on Santa Monica Beach, CA.
- The thought of living in Australia greatly appeals to you - despite the spiders.

Song Change - Planning, Print Productions & Video

Just after doing my pitch, I decided to change my existing song choice, to Janelle Monae's 'Dance or Die', for which I still plan to use all my existing research and planning, as it is by the same artist as my previous song and is therefore valid for all the same ideas and shots. 

This change was for a number of reasons:

- The song was too long. At 4:26 it would have required too much time for shooting and subsequent editing, so a shorter song would be appropriate. At 3:13 'Dance or Die' is adequate. 

- One of chosen performers, Freddi, will be away for most of the shooting period, so using this song (in which only a few seconds of the it requires a male performer) means I can still use him for my music video as intended as he is perfect for the role of the male speaker in the song.

- As 'Dance or Die' doesn't already have a music video and is an album track (from 2010, so won't be released during the process of making my music video, either), it is still acceptable for use.

I asked for permission again from the same record label for use of this song:

Pitch Feedback - Music Video

In response to my pitch, I got quite a bit of feedback from the rest of the group. One person liked the fact that I am 'sticking with the conventions of [Janelle's] other music videos', with another person liking my 'costumes and settings' displayed in the pitch. Another positive was the fact that my plans were 'well thought out, health- and safety-wise', and that the overall concept 'sounds very achievable'; 'I like the black and white aspect to the video'.

Some things I could have improved on, looking at my feedback, appear to be that I 'maybe need another element' to the black and white room idea, and that before anything else, I 'need a location'. 
In response to these two main, recurring points, I have decided to include a bigger variety of shots and scenes than first expected, such as perhaps some outdoors shooting. I have also decided on a few places for shooting, each one for a different scene in the video - my house for the main bulk of the shooting, college's photography studio for some silhouetted shots and others that don't require a great deal of space, and a couple of outdoor scenes, for variety and to benefit the narrative.

Pitch - Music Video

Shot idea - Planning & Video

An idea I had for the latter part of my music video is to film the performers straight-on, as they run towards the camera in slow motion. This is an idea I got from the video for 'Any Which Way' by Scissor Sisters, as show below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHv0jW4p_xA

Song Use Permission - Music Video

Shot idea - Planning & Video

Filming the profile of the performers in some shots as they sing during the song

Shot idea - Planning & Video

Screen is split into three horizontal sections. The top and middle sections feature the top and middle of the same picture respectively (in this case, one of the performers' heads) with the bottom section (the mouth of the second performer) a moving recording of someone singing.

Music Video Research Assignment - Planning

For my main music video research, I have decided to analyse a video for a song by Janelle Monáe (my chosen artist). The song is called PrimeTime; a downtempo track about the love between two people, and how one shouldn't wait for 'the starts to align' for love to happen. As well as this, I will analyse the video for Adorn You by Miguel, another PBR&B artist. This song, also about love, is more upbeat and playful than PrimeTime in terms of melody and lyrical content, with the theme being the metaphor of him 'adorning' a woman with his love.

Being from the PBR&B genre and indie/electronic/soul persuasion, these videos both feature characteristics that are significant and specific to these genres. For example, in 

Goodwin's Theories - #6

There are often intertextual references to films, TV programmes, other music videos.

Here is an example of Geri Halliwell's 'It's Raining Men' video, incorporating the audition scene from the 1983 film Flashdance. 




Geri Halliwell - It's Raining Men

Flashdance - final dance


Another example is Madonna's 'Material Girl' music video which is inspired by Marilyn Monroe's 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend'.

Madonna - Material Girl

Marilyn Monroe - Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend