Planning - Storyboard and Animatic

In order to film efficient;y, we decided to create a storyboard, which we later turned into an animatic. The animatic is shown below, with the typed storyboard beneath it.

Research: Allie Moss - Fan Base

After searching the internet, I found a news article about Allie Moss. The article shows Moss' fan base in England, which informs us that she has world wide appeal, meaning that our music video has a better chance of being successful.
The article centers around Alan Rumsey's success in getting Moss to perform in England, and more specifically, his home town in Oxfordshire. Rumsey describes the success as "Christmas come early", suggesting that Moss' arrival is a a great thing. This tells us that Moss is a well respected individual with a large fan base that is not restricted to her native country. This means that her music, as well as her music videos, are universal.
Additionally, the acoustic gig was sold out, which reinforces the idea that she is popular and has a substantial audience.
The article can be found here.

A second article I found on the internet was an interview with Moss. The most interesting part of the interview was her answer in response to the question: Can you talk a little bit about the meaning behind these songs for you?
Moss' reply was: I try not to go too deeply into what they mean to me, because I want them to mean to other people what they get from it. But, the idea behind “Corner” was that I think sometimes when you’re faced with a difficult problem in your life, what you really want or need is just a friend to stand by you through it, rather than fight it. It’s perceived as not being brave, to not fight something, but for me, sometimes just getting through something is important. You just want someone to be there and hold your hand, and be like, I’m gonna get through this with you.
The interview can be found here.

To gain a further insight into Moss' audience, I decided to look at the target audience of one of the shows her music has been featured on. I eventually came across an article that showed the ratings of Pretty Little Liars, the show which used Moss' 'Corner'. The episode gained the most amount of viewers during the second season, with 3.68 million viewers.

The above picture also shows that the show was extremely popular in female teens, females between the ages of 12 and 34, and teens in general. This indicates to us that the main audience of Moss' music will be teenagers, especially females, and well as young females as a whole. Therefore, we will have to cater our music video to these groups of people and will have to try to target them directly.

Editing - Testing Our Technique

In Final Cut Express, I decided to experiment editing a piece of random footage I had from when I filmed the focus group. I wanted to make the clip to look quite old and vintage, as it would be a memory; the practising in this type of editing is for the montage section of our music video. Below is the edited clip.

I do not think this attempt was successful, as the colours in the video did not look how I wanted them to. To get the desired effect, a yellow or orange tint should have been visible. However, as my Final Cut Express skills are limited, I have decided that I will use Final Cut Express to export the video as a Quick Time Movie, and then open it with Adobe Photoshop. My Photoshop skills are quite developed, meaning that it will be easier for me to get the desired effect. I will then save the video and place it back into Final Cut Express. This will be a more time-consuming process, but I feel this will be beneficial to our project. I will be trying this method out in the next few weeks, and then comparing the differences.

Research: Focus Group - Analysis

After completing our focus group, we decided that we should analyse the results we obtained. This will help us create a music video that addresses the audiences expectations.

Do you like the song?
The answers from the group were positive. By knowing that people like the song we have chosen, we are more confident in producing a music video people will enjoy. Additionally, if people like the song, they are more interested in seeing a visual representation; people will watch our music video.

Describe the song in a few words.
The words that were said included "emotional", "sad", "happy", "cute" and "like a lullaby". The word "emotional" suggests that the audience would expect a portrayal of an emotional or moving experience. This therefore means that a narrative is imperative. Furthermore, we had a contradiction as both "sad" and "happy" were said in reference to the song. I agree with this interpretation, as some parts of the song are "sad", whilst others are more uplifting and "happy". Therefore, I think it will be best for us to try and include both "happy" and "sad" emotions. Doing so would keep our video interesting, as a range of emotions would be felt by the audience.
The word "cute" indicates a need for aesthetically pleasing shots and possibly hints at the interaction between characters. "Cute" is often used to describe in-love couples, so we will try to capture this.
"Like a lullaby" could mean a simple idea is needed, as lullabies are not complicated songs. Plus, lullabies are soothing; this idea could be reflected in our locations as we have tried to select idyllic and tranquil settings.

What artist's style is the song similar to?
Ellie Goulding, Damien Rice, Birdy, Tracy Chapman and Ingrid Michaelson were all referenced. A few of these artists have been mentioned on my blog already, thus showing that we are on the correct path project-wise. Additionally, after looking at the music videos of these artists, I noticed that the style was similar; simplistic, sometimes vintage-looking music videos were the ones created. Below is a music video by Ingrid Michaelson, whose band including Allie Moss.

Would you expect the digipak to have a photograph or an illustration?

The answer was a photograph. We will take this into account when creating it.

What kind of narrative would you expect for the music video?

We gained a few similar answers from this question. All of these contained a couple that are in love. One outcome suggested was that one person dies. Death is known to be an emotional and traumatic experience and would therefore fit into the meaning of the song. Also, showing the effects of someone's death would be emotive and therefore create the "emotional" and "sad" feelings expected by the audience.

A second outcome is that they split up. From putting this answer into the context of the other answers gained, the break up would not be malicious, and that it would be a heart-breaking experience. I am not too keen on this idea, as I do not want the music video to become chick-flick-esque; it would be difficult to capture the break-up on film and not follow the conventions of a typical romance movie.

The third answer was simply "a cute love story". This answer gives us a large amount of possibilities and is not specific.

Other information

All the participants were 17 years of age, with three of them female and one male. From the answers received, as well as my research, I have discovered that Moss' fan base is largely female, therefore catering to a female audience increases the chance of our music video being successful.

Research: Focus Group - Video

To gain an understanding of what an audience what expect in both the music video and digipak, we decided to complete a focus group. By analysing the answers we were given, we are able to create a music video that is suitable for the song and does not lose the song's meaning. Below is our video.

Audience Theory - Feminist Film Theory and Audiences

The Feminist Film Theory and Audiences was created by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', which looked at how women were photographed in cinema.
Mulvey stated that Cinema reflects society, and therefore cinema reflects the patriarchal nature of society.
Mulvey's work can be categorised into three sections:

• The 'Gaze'
• Agency
• Erotic Desire

The 'Gaze'
This is where the 'gaze' of the camera is that of the male  'gaze'. Furthermore, the male 'gaze' is active, whilst the  female 'gaze' is passive. Throughout the narrative, Mulvey also believes that the male 'gaze' is directed towards the female characters.
The audience is made to identify with the male 'gaze', because the camera films from the optical, as well as the libidinal, point of view of the male character.
Thus, three levels of the cinematic 'gaze' - the camera, character and spectator - that objectify the female character. This is known as the Triple Gaze.
The Triple Gaze
Audience --> Camera --> Male --> Female
As a consequence of the triple gaze, the audience are forced into viewing the female as a sexual object. An example of this is found in James Bond: Doctor No, where Ursula Andress is viewed with the male 'gaze'.

In this clip, Andress is viewed through the male 'gaze', and therefore as an object of desire. The majority of James Bond films follow this, which is why they were generally popular with men. However, James Bond: Quantum of Solace was favoured by women, and was viewed through a female 'gaze'.

Furthermore, the audience is constructed as though everyone was male. Women are forced to look at the text as though they were a male member of the audience.

This occurs through the process of Suture.

Agency

In the classical Hollywood cinema, the male protagonist has agency - he is active and powerful. He is the agent around whom the dramatic action unfolds. The female character is passive and powerless - she is the object of desire for the protagonist and audience.

Erotic Desire

Mulvey argues that women have two roles in film:

• As an object of erotic desire for the characters.
• As an object of erotic desire for the audience.

This is supported by a large number of media texts including Glee, which is primarily a comedy. In this instance, a student is dressed in a nurse's outfit, and viewed with a male 'gaze'. It is obvious that this character is the object of erotic desire.

However, men are also objectified in certain texts and viewed as the object of sexual desire. An example of this would be 'Top Gun', particularly in the volleyball and locker room scenes.

Audience Theory - Suture

Suture is the way in which, particularly Hollywood, films are created, in terms of narrative, editing, sound and mise-en-scene. This positions the audience in certain ways, making only the preferred reading possible, however unconscious the audience is of that position.
An example of Suture is shown in the film 'Crash', in which a father gives his daughter a bullet-proof cloak. From this scene, the emphasis is placed on the cloak and how the girl believes it actually exists. Therefore, the audience are prepared for the girl to come into danger when the father is confronted by an angry man with a gun. From the emphasis of the cloak, to the slow motion shots of the girl running towards her father, it is clear what is going to happen. The audience are 'stitched in' and cannot escape sympathising with the family and decoding the text in the way the producers wanted them to.

Audience Theory - The Reception Theory

The Reception Theory is an audience theory created by academic Stuart Hall during the 1970s.

This theory considered how texts were encoded with meaning by producers, and then decoded by audiences.
This theory suggests that:

• When a producer constructs a text, it is encoded with a meanings or message that the producer wants to convey to the audience.
• In some cases, the audience will correctly decode the message and understand what the producer was attempting to portray.
• In other cases, the audience will either reject or fail to correctly understand the message.

Hall consequently identified the 3 types of audience readings of the text.

• Dominant or preferred
• Negotiated
• Oppositional

Dominant Reading
The audience decodes the message as the producer wants them to and largely agrees with it. An example of this would be watching a political speech and agreeing with it.
Negotiated Reading
This is where the audience accepts, rejects or refines elements of the text in light of previously held views. An example of this would be watching a political debate and neither agreeing or disagreeing with the speech being made.
Oppositional Reading
This is where the audience recognises the dominant reading, yet rejects it for cultural, political or ideological reasons. An example would be the total rejection of a political speech and active opposition.

Research - Moodboard

To gain ideas and visual inspiration, each member of my group has decided to create a moodboard. Each moodboard will be different, and each will hopefully trigger some creativity amongst us. Completing this task will help us when creating our storyboard and deciding on a final storyline for our video. Moreover, the moodboard covers the mise-en-scene, which is one of the most vital components of any visual text. Therefore, the moodboard will be beneficial to us when preparing to film, as we can constantly refer back to them. Below is my moodboard. Click through for the fullsize image.

One & Two: The first two images are props that we could potentially use in our music video, as they fit the overall feel we expect to produce. Image one is a picture I took myself, and could be used as part of our digipak and/or advertisement. Both these images have a 'vintage' quality, and would help push our music video closer to a professional standard rather than an amateur one.

Three & Four: Both images three and four show the types of clothing our female protagonist could wear. The clothes are rather quaint and cute, as the oversized jumper in image four would make our protagonist seem vulnerable, which is what we would like to achieve. Also, the colours shown in the third image are bright, muted and fresh. These colours are pleasing to the eye, and would hopefully make our music video aesthetically satisfying.

Five: Image five shows the kind of location we would expect to be filming in, as well as the colours we would expect to find there. Obviously, filming on a train track in our area is impossible, and there are no discontinued train stations/lines nearby, However, we are hopeful of finding places similar to this.

Six & Seven: Images six and seven are similar. Image six is a photograph I found on the internet, whilst image seven is one I took myself. I included these photographs as I enjoy the use of a brick wall as the pattern is interesting and forms a simplistic yet pleasing backdrop. I feel as though this kind of background would be best suited to the lip syncing sections of our music video.

Eight: Image eight is of a location we aim to use for the montage section of our music video. We find this area relatable to a vast amount of people, as nearly everyone has visited a play area in their life time and have formed some strong memories in areas similar. Therefore, buy having a reflective montage, we are utilising the truth and will be hopefully be catching some real emotions, which will make our work seem more professional.

Nine: Image nine shows the style of make-up we would hope to use. We think that dramatic, extravagant make-up would not corroborate with the rest of our music video, and would take attention away from the other key elements. Thus, natural make-up and hair will suffice. Furthermore, looking naturally beautiful would mean that our female audience would be more inclined to emotionally attach to our character.

Ten: The style of lighting we hope to achieve is shown in image ten. Backlighting can be particularly effective, especially when the light is shone through hair, as shown in the photograph. Also, the creation of silhouettes is striking and will help to make our music video seem more dramatic and eye-catching. Additionally, naturally lighting can make an ordinary setting look beautiful, and lens flare will be an element we hope to include, whether naturally or digitally.

Eleven: Image eleven shows a beach, which is a possible location for our music video. However, my reason for including this image was to show composition and framing. This image obeys the rule of thirds, making it pleasing on the eye as it is balanced. Also, keeping a large amount of the model's body out of the frame makes this an interesting shot, which consequently holds the audience's attention. Using these techniques, we would aim to create several intriguing shots in our music video.

Twelve: Image twelve shows the acting we would expect from our cast. We want the emotions that are being portrayed to look as realistic as possible, meaning that our cast would have to be comfortable around one another, as well as being confident enough to show specific emotions in front of the camera. As the two people who are going to be in our music video are close friends, we expect to be able to complete this part of our project to a high standard.

Audience Theory - Uses and Gratifications Model

A further theory regarding the way audience's digest text is the Uses and Gratifications Model.
The Uses and Gratifications Model is the opposite of the Effects Model and the main points are:

• The audience are viewed as active.
• The audience uses the text and is not used by it.
• The audiences uses the text for its gratification or pleasure.

Therefore, it is evident that the power lies with the audience and not with the producers.
The theory also emphasises what audiences do with the media texts. Far from being duped by the media, the audience is free to reject, use or play with media meanings as they see fit.
Audiences therefore use media texts to gratify needs for:

• Diversion
• Escapism
• Information
• Pleasure
• Comparing relationships and lifestyles with one's own
• Sexual stimulation

The audience is in control and consumption of the media helps people with issues such as:

• learning
• emotional satisfaction
• relaxation
• help with issues of personal identity
• help with issues of social identity
• help with issues of aggression and violence.

Controversially, the theory suggests the consumption of violent images can be helpful rather than deleterious to an individual. Additionally, it also suggests that audiences act out their violent impulses through the consumption of media violence. The audience's inclination towards violence is therefore sublimated and they are less likely to commit violent acts.

Research: Past Student's Work - Corner

Whilst browsing YouTube, I discovered an A Level Media music video for 'Corner', the song we have chosen to use. After watching it, I noticed that some of our ideas were the same, both for type of shots and for the narrative. I decided to analyse this piece of work, so I can see what they did well, and what they did bad. Doing this will hopefully stop me from making the same mistakes as them, as well as helping me visual our music video as a whole.

Positives

• The opening sequence was good as the speed of edited matched the feel of the song, as the close-up shots created a mystery behind the identity of the characters; the audience would continue to watch the music video as they wanted to find out more about the characters.
• The showing of past memories works really well, as the editing of these parts makes it clear that they are different from the rest of the text. Also, this adds depth to the characters on screen and helps make the audience more attached to them.
• The cutting of the music is an interesting addition that is also controversial.This maintains the audience's attention.
• The use of parallels help show the differences between before and after the accident, and therefore provoke the audience into feeling sympathetic towards the female character.
• The idea for the narrative is strong and fits the meaning of the song.

Negatives

• The middle of the music video is rather dull as not much seems to be happening. Quicker shots and maybe a brief change in location would have helped.
• The breaking of sound does not seem to fit with the nature of the song. Whilst it is a talking point, it seems out of place and disrupts the flow of the song unnecessarily in my opinion.
• It seems as though the shots prior to the car crash are trying to build tension. This does not work, in my opinion, as the song is not increasing in tempo or volume, as the visuals do not correlate with the sounds being heard.
• Some of shots could have been more interesting. I noticed a lot of the shots of the couple walking were long shots. Close-ups of certain body parts could have been included to help keep the audience's attention.

Audience Theory - The Effects Model

In order to analysis our final product in the most useful way possible, we must look at it from several points of view. One of these is in terms of The Effects Model, which is a theory relating to how audiences interpret and are effected by our music video.
What is The Effects Model?

• The Effects Model believes that the consumption of media texts have an influence upon the audience.
• It is generally considered that the effect of these media texts are negative.
• Audiences are viewed as passive and powerless to prevent the influence.
• The model is also referred to as the Hypodermic Model.
• Here, the messages in media texts are injected into the minds of the audience by the 'syringe-like' media.
• As the audience are powerless, the media works like a drug, intoxicating the audience who are now addicted.

Is there any evidence for this model?

• In the 1920s and 30s, the Frankfurt School theorised that the mass media acted to restrict and control audiences to the benefit of corporate capitalism and governments.
• The Bobo Doll Experiment created by Albert Bandura in 1961showed that 88% of children tested imitated the violent behaviour shown to them, and 40% reproduced the same behaviour 8 months after the initial experiment.

• The film Child's Play 3 was held responsible for provoking two children into murdering of James Bulger in 1993.
• The game Manhunt was blamed for Warren LeBlanc murder of Stefan Pakeerah in 2004.
• The film A Clockwork Orange was viewed as provoking rape and violent attacks in 1971.
• The film Severance was perceived as the inspiration of Simon Everitt's murder in 2006.

Allie Moss

Allie Moss is a singer, vocal and guitarist coach who originates from New Jersey, America. After releasing her first EP Passerby in 2009, Moss released her debut album Late Bloomer in 2011.

Moss regularly performs as the lead guitarist for her singer/songwriter and friend Ingrid Michaelson, and performed alongside him on his 2010 European tour. Moss also played a UK tour in July and August, performing in cities such as Leeds, Liverpool and London. She has also performed at The BT Tower in the UK.

Moss is best known in the United Kingdom for her song Corner, which featured in an advertisement for BT's Infinity broadband service. Consequently, the song peaked at number 70 in the UK Chart. Corner was also used on the Pretty Little Liars episode "It's Alive". 

A further song, Something to Hold Onto featured on the TV show Bones, in the episode "The Feet on the Beach".
Looking through the various comments on Moss' videos on YouTube, I have discovered that the vast majority of people that have enjoyed the music are females. The ages of these females range from about fourteen to twenty-five. This could be due to Moss' coverage on television shows such as Pretty Little Liars, as they target a young audience.

Preliminary Exercise - Completed Video

Below is the completed preliminary exercise.