Post Production Storyboard

After creating the music video, I have found that for a majority of it I managed to keep to the storyboard, although I feel that keeping to it so rigidly prevented me from being more creative when filming.

Post Production Storyboard - slideshow with music

Online Feedback

I have posted my video on YouTube, although I have found that it is blocked in the UK, preventing me receiving any feedback from a local audience.
However, it can be viewed in Australia where I have received feedback from via Twitter and YouTube:

Post Production Questions and Answers

The audience watching my video

Today I showed my music video to an audience of Year 13 students (aged 17-18) and teachers (who were my target audience). Although my video is aimed at an older audience, I wanted to show it to people my age too, to see the differences in interpretations of the video with the differences in age. This questionnaire was desgined to help me with my evaluation and some post-production audience research.

These are the questions I asked, with a summary of the answers:

1. Male or Female
    A majority were female

2. Age
    As a majority of the audience were from Year 13, they were in the age
    group '16-20'. I also invited members of my target audience in the 30+ age
    group.

3. Would you have this song on your MP3 player?
    The people who are part of my target audience all answered 'yes' to this
    question, which supports my choice to target this age group. Surprisingly,
    most of the Year 13 students also answered that they would have this song
    on their MP3 player, which suggests that this video could target a wider
    audience than I first expected.

4. What is your favourite genre of music?
    There was a large variety of taste in music from my audience, but a majority
    of them preferred pop and variations of rock such as rock/pop and
    rock/metal. As 'Where The Wild Roses Grow' could be described as soft rock
    I believe that my audience were appropriate to critique this video.

5. Summarise the story that takes place in the music video
    All members of my target audience understood the narrative and some were
    able to look deeper into the meaning of the story, suggesting that maybe
    there were issues of identity for both characters. Most of the audience from
    Year 13 were able to understand that the two characters were in love, and
    many answers to this question were 'a love story between a man and a
    woman'. Few people understood the jealousy of the male character, which
    was a reason I did not choose this age group as my target audience, as they
    were unable to see the deeper meaning of the video.

6. Why do you think the male character acted in the way he did?
    The only female from my target audience was able to look deeper into the
    motivation of the male character, which meant that she could interpret the
    video in an individual way and that she thought more about it. She created
    for herself a back story for the character which aided her interpretation.
    The two males from my target audience did not think as analytically,
    although they were able to see the most obvious interpretation that he may
    have suffered mental problems and wanted to keep her beauty to himself.
    Many member of the audience from Year 13, felt that the character may have
    had insecurities, which is typical of a teenage character not an ageless one. 
    The younger audience were interpreting the character through a teenage
    perspective of insecurities and immature relationships which is another
    reason I did not choose them as my target audience.

7. Did you find the actors convincing? Why?
    Most people found the female character more convincing that the male
    character as they felt that her emotions came across more effectively on her
    face. However, in a couple of cases, audience members felt that the actors
    were too emotionless.

8. Were you entertained by the video? Did you find yourself losing
    interest at any particular moments?
    My target audience found themselves engaged in the music video throughout,
    which means that I have been successful in entertaining them. They found
    the storyline effective in keeping them engaged, although the female
    member of my target audience found some shots, such as the rose in the
    female character's teeth noticeably 'unproffessional'.
    The Year 13 members of my audience, were all entertained by the video,
    without losing interest. They were also captivated by the narrative style,
    which kept them engaged.

9. What was your favourite moment/aspect of the video?
    My target audience all enjoyed the part where the female character 
    (when she is dead) opens her eyes and begins to sing. They also liked the
    characters singing against the white background.
    A majority of my Year 13 audience preferred the ending of the music video,
    where the male and female characters both walk away from the river bank,
    the female character dropping her rose as she walks.

10. What would you change in the video?
     My target audience picked up on some of the less proffessional aspects of
     the video, such as the casting of the male character and some of the
     locations. They felt that the locations such as the sofa that the female
     character sat on, took away from the atmosphere of the video.
     My Year 13 audience were less anylitical in their answers to this question.
     Some suggested better direction of the male actor as he was not
     emotive enough. Another suggestion was more variation of scenes.

Audience filling out questionnaire

More Digipack Experimenting

I will be using a black background for my digipack as it reflects the morbid tone of my music video. I have continued experimenting with ideas, this time using screen grabs from my music video. These are some more examples:

Re-filming

At the beginning of my video there is a short, five second clip where my actor was not singing in time with the music when filming and was therefore impossible to sync with the music. I decided that this clip was spoiling the rest of the video so I decided to refilm the clip. Luckily it was against a white background which is not too hard to find. As the actor goes to the same school as me, it was easy to meet up at lunch break and spend ten minutes refilming. This time I tried to concentrate more on my actor while he was lip syncing to ensure that the footage I got was useful. By doing so, I realised that I needed to refilm a few times to ensure that he was in time with the music and that his facial expression matched the mood of the video.
Having studied Theatre Studies for three years, I have spent a lot of time learning how to get into the mindset of a character. I used this to help my actor by asking him what emotions his character would be feeling and having him experiment with facial expressions until we found one that worked.
The next stage for me will be to capture this on the school computers and add it into the timeline on the editing software that the rest of my music video is on.

Experimenting with Digipack Ideas

Using the ideas I had for my digipack, I experimented using my own photos and others from the internet to see how how my ideas translated onto the software. Using Corel Photo-Paint 11, I edited the images, placing them on a black background which matches the colour scheme of my music video. I am aiming to portray an atmosphere of lonliness and isolation with the singular images on the cover. These are some examples (they are only experiments and not neccessarily what the final product will look like):

Ideas For Digipack

 

When the chief examiner came to talk to us, he mentioned that we should be thinking about what we wanted to do for our digipacks. I have been considering this and I have some vague ideas.

I would like part of it to have a black background and then in the corner of the square, to be a red rose. The small, solitary rose in the corner of a black square, will symbolise the isolation and atmosphere of depression and mystery that is key in the song and my video. The colours will also match up with the colours in the music video.

 

Keeping in line with album covers of artists from a similar genre (such as Mick Harvey), the artist will be on the front cover. I would like the artist to still portray the character that he is playing in the song and the video. The character has a jealous and depressive nature that by the end of the song is quite frightening, and so I would like to have a picture of my male actor, looking straight at the camera, with a look of anger and grief on his face. I will tint this grey like in the music video, and it will be on a black background. The title of the song and the artist name will appear over the image in red to match the red rose and the blood in the music video.

Feedback From Teachers

Yesterday, my media teacher took some time to look at my video which she said she enjoyed and thought was very clever.
However, she did give me some criticisms which I plan to work from, along with the criticisms from my target audience:
The first shot where the male actor comes in is unconvincing and he sings out of sync with the music. Both my Media teachers think that this will bring my mark down significantly and so I have decided to re-film this shot. It should not be any trouble to do so as it is on a white background, which we have no shortage of in my school. As my male actor goes to school with me, it will be easy for us to stay behind after school for half an hour to re-film this shot and make it look more convincing, which I will then be able to cut into my music video.
Her second criticism was about some of the fades in the video. She said that she thought a few of them were too long, making the video clip it transitioned into too short. I will review the music video, clip by clip to ensure that the fades match the pace of the music video and do not make the clip too long or short.

Digipack Practice - Franz Ferdinand

This is another example of practice for the digipack. Here I have used a different software called Corel Draw 11. Because of the squares in the background, I had to use this software which is for drawing and not photo editing, to create the background and add the squares. Then I dragged the photo of the man in the suit onto the square and double clicked it, which took me straight to Corel Photo-Paint 11. Using this software, I edited the picture of the man so that he was black and white and I took out the white background of the picture. I then placed this picture on top of the background I had created on Corel Draw and added the banner at the bottom.

Mid Production Interviews

Having gotten to a point in editing where I have put all my shots together according to the storyboard and edited them all, I have found it difficult to find exactly what I can change to improve my music video.
Therefore, I brought in some of my teachers (who the age of my target audience) to watch my video which I followed by asking them questions about it.
I was pleased to find that the story or themes of the story came across clearly in the video and the audience were able to identify them.
The criticisms given to me will be very helpful as I can now change the aspects of the video that my audience did not enjoy as much, such as the extensive shots of my female actress sitting on the couch. However, there are some aspects I will not be able to change such as the issues with my male actor. His poor acting on the day has affected the mood of my music video, but I hope that I can find a way to manipulate the video to make this less obvious.

Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin Theory from Zoe Hillman

Digipack Practice

 

 

 

 

To practice using Corel Photo-Paint 11, which I will be using to make my digipack, I have been trying to recreate existing album covers. This is done through using layers of different images which previously bore no resemblance to the images on the album, and editing them to make them look the way I want them to.
It is more simple than I expected it to be, although remembering the different image options will be the hardest part when creating my digipack.

Kylie Minogue Album Cover and Website Analysis

Kylie Minogue’s song ‘2 Hearts’ had an electronic sound which is reflected in this album cover, through the make up and the font type. The lighting style make up emphasise the electronic sound. It is further emphasised by it only being on one eye which makes it more noticeable.

The frequent use of red in this cover suggests romance which is also suggested by the title ‘2 Hearts’. This also seen from the seductive pose of Kylie, with her finger on her lips which are also coloured red. Her pale skin and the white background makes the red stand out and be even more noticeable.

The font type looks as if it has been handwritten quickly which is in line with the fast paced electronic music. It also looks like graffiti which also emphasises the modern, rebellious sound the music has. The doodle-style heart by the ‘2’ also gives a youthful atmosphere to the cover.

The ink drops flying away from the ‘2 Hearts’ text gives the effect of being in a rush and carelessness, which links to the sound that the song was trying to create.

Kylie Minogue’s website homepage is packed with various different boxes offering different pieces of information. All the text is in white contrasting with the black background. The box in the centre is about the latest news with links underneath it to share it on a variety of social networks. There are clear links on either side of this module to her YouTube and her Twitter through using pictures of her. Underneath the twitter picture there is a Facebook box where one can see other people who have ‘liked’ her page on Facebook. There is also a Fashion box showing Kylie’s latest red carpet outfit and who it was by. The most noticeable part of the page is the large ‘K25’ logo in the top left hand corner of the page. In white it prominently stands out from the black background, advertising Kylie’s 25 years in the music business. The background has a black and white picture of Kylie which takes up most of the centre of the screen. The website successfully sells Kylie, bringing attention to her through a large amount of pictures on the page, which being in colour; stand out from the black background.

The website includes: timeline, news, fashion, about, lyrics, videos, galleries, discography, online-store, blog, tour, Kylie home ware, merchandise

Mick Harvey Album Cover and Website Analysis

Mick Harvey’s music is simple rock. There are no modern aspects in his music such as auto-tune and synthesisers, which is reflected in this album cover. It is simple in the sense that there is no reference to technology on it. The centre of attention on the cover is a glass which is only half full which already asks the question of the person looking at it if it is half full or half empty. The person looking at it must decide whether this is a positive or negative image.

The name of the album ‘Intoxicated Man’ also links to the image of the glass which could be filed with alcohol. Mick Harvey is looking intently at the glass suggesting his obsession with the drink and therefore his intoxication. The whole cover is tinted green. It is like a different way of seeing the world like a person would when they are drunk.

The red in the background gives an atmosphere of either danger or romance. This could be his love for the drink or the danger and violence that can come with being drunk.

The loopy font type of the album title ‘Intoxicated Man’ also gives the impression of drunkenness and not being able to write straight. The colour red links to the image with the red in the background suggesting love or danger. Mick Harvey’s name is written at the top in large, bold, green writing. This is the first text that stands out, drawing a focus to the artist. Like the image, the text is in green suggesting intoxication.

On the black borders where the text is written there are sketches associated with alcohol such as bottles and glasses, linking to the title of the album.

The website, like the artist’s music is simple. The first aspect that is noticed is the large image of his most recent album in the centre of the page, emphasised by the black background which contrasts with the colours of the album cover. Above it are links to other pages on the website, which coloured in brown also stand out from the black background.

        The links in brown include: about Mick, News, Releases, Photos/Videos and a Shop.

        Other links on the page include: Play Music, Mick’s MySpace, Mute Records

Sweeny Todd

For the colour I want on my video, I have been inspired by the film Sweeny Todd. The storyline of the film has a similar atmosphere to my music video of depression and sadness. Throughout the film, the images have a grey tint which I would like to use in my music video as I feel it effectively reflects the mood I would like to put across to the audience.

Colour Editing

I have decided that I want my music video to have a grey tint to it, to give it a more timeless, mysterious and slightly depressive atmosphere. Since capturing my footage from the tape in the camera to the computer, I have been experimenting with changing the colours on the video.
In addition the grey tint, I would like the red colours to be enhanced. As I am unfamiliar with colour editing tools on computers, I have asked a friend who is doing photography A Level to help me get an idea as to how the software works. At first we tried using the software 'Adobe After Effects' where you can edit the colours and various other effects on a video clip. We tried altering the hue, saturation, contrast and brightness. After trying this, my friend attempted to use some more complex aspects of the colour editing tools. She tried to change the balance of colours and used some graphs which add and take away shadow. After spending an hour trying to get the effect I wanted, we realised that we couldn't do it here.
I then tried experimenting on the software I am editing on ('Adobe Premiere Pro'). I found an affect called 'Film 1', which automatically gives the film a grey tint, which you can then adjust with the 'Matrix Colour Corrector' with the use of saturation, contrast and brightness levels. I have found that this has given me the affect I want; giving a grey tint which emphasises the red of the rose and the blood.

Editing

To edit my music video, I will be using the software Adobe Premiere Pro on my school computers.
I started by capturing the footage on the tape I used on the day of filming. I then cut the footage into seperate shots which I have begun to put in order according to my storyboard.
I have put the song onto the editing software too, which has allowed me to match up the lip syncing of my actors, according to the song.
I plan on getting all the clips in order and in time with the music before I add any transitions or colour effects.
I have brought a friend into our school's media studio who is familiar with colour editing and she has helped me find a way to give the video a grey tone and to enhance the red colour of the rose and the blood.
On Adobe Premiere Pro there is a colour effect called Matrix Film 1 which gives the video a filmic grey tint and by altering the saturation I am able to enhance the red while maintaining the grey tint.

Filming

Today I filmed my music video in 3 locations - the local riverside walk, my house and a relatives house. I was overall very pleased with the result.

My actors arrived on time, allowing us to keep to our schedule. We put all the equipment in the car and my dad drove us to the closest entrance to the walk. We had borrowed a trolley from a neighbour which we used to put all the equipment onto, to take to the site I had chosen. We were lucky that there was enough space for my actors to move in and for me to move the camera in, although the wheels on the spreader got muddy. I had difficulty at some points at tilting the camera far down enough when I was filming the woman lying down, or the rose on the ground. However, I managed to work around this by moving the camera slightly further back and zooming in. Part of the video in this location requires the woman to look dead. My actors often found the intensity too much and would start laughing and it would take a while for them to calm down enough to return to the scene.

We completed filming in this location in just over an hour and then went back to my house. I chose to film the performance part of the video in my house as we have a plain white wall which was ideal for this part of the video, which I wanted to be completely separate from the narrative. This part was very easy to film as I didn't have to move the camera at all, although I had to ensure that I had the white balance set properly as there was so much white in the frame. As this part was completely lip syncing based I was glad to see that both my actors had learnt the lyrics and understood them. They followed my advice in terms of facial expression and how to keep their lip syncing in time.

After filming this in an hour, we took the equipment back into the car and drove to my relative's house. Setting up the equipment here was very difficult as they didn't want us to touch any furniture. However, their house provided us with a perfect space for the parts of the narrative that we were filming there as it had a timeless atmosphere. 
My main problem during filming was not pressing the record button properly which upon reviewing the footage, I have noticed meant that I missed out on some shots. If I find that this is a problem during filming I will take equipment out of school again to fill any spaces.

We all enjoyed ourselves filming the music video and I look forward to editing it.

Risk Assessment

Location: River
Risk: Equipment getting wet, actors slipping and injuring themselves
Solution: Keep equipment a safe distance away from water, make sure actors walk not run

Location: White background (my house)
Risk: Actors tripping over cables from lights
Solution: Try to keep cables towards one end of the room and make actors aware of where cables are

Location: Relatives' house
Risk: Damaging property that doesn't belong to me, actors tripping over cables from lights
Solution: Be extra careful when setting up and moving equipment so as not to damage anything, as before let actors know where cables are

Location Issues

I have received a phone call from the people whose house I will be filming in today. They are concerned about their privacy and that their house will be identifiable. I have assured them that I will not be taking any shots from outside and that their privacy will be respected. 
While filming today I will have to be careful not to include anything in any of the shots that might make their house recognisable and will give them any reason to be concerned.

Fake Blood

At the end of my chosen song, the man kills the woman with a rock. I have decided that I don't want to show any murder scenes as it can look very unprofessional when being filmed by an A Level student. I also don't want my video to be gruesome as I don't want to detract from the theme of the woman's beauty, the overwhelming love the man feels for her and the jealousy he feels that ends in her murder.
Therefore, I have decided to use fake blood, which I will use in small quantities on the woman's face. I will have a small drop from the corner of her lip and a small trickle coming down from her hairline.
To make the fake blood I used honey, flour, red food colouring and green food colouring.

Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift - Music Video Analysis

The song ‘Safe and Sound’ is sung by Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars and the music video, which was directed by Philip Andelman, premiered in February 2012. The song is a combination of country and folk rock, a genre of which Swift is famous for. As is typically found in a country music video, a majority of the shots are taken outdoors. However, in most country videos the outdoor shots show a warm and sunny landscape. The music video for ‘Safe and Sound’ diverts from this convention and instead the outdoor shots are dark and misty and gives the impression that the forest Swift is walking through is cold.

There are very few specific links in the music video to the lyrics in the song, but the shots of the Civil Wars singing inside a wooden cabin with a log fire in it suggests that inside the cabin they are ‘safe and sound’. The warm red and brown colours in the room from the fire, contrast with the cold and pale colours of the outside, juxtaposing the comfortable and inviting with the hopelessness and isolation. Later in the video, while watching Swift walk through the bleak landscape, we see a fire burning in the distance. This and the bare trees (which suggests that the fire has been through this part of the forest already) links to the lyrics in the second verse; ‘don’t you dare look outside your window/darling everything’s on fire’.

The rest of the music video reflects the mood of the song rather than amplifying the lyrics. The song which is slow and simple, gives a feeling of loss and sadness. In the shots in which Swift appears she is the only person in the frame, which makes her seem isolated. The trees around her are bare which almost suggests a threat. By having Swift wear a white dress, with bare feet and minimal makeup, she looks young and innocent which evokes sympathy from the viewer as they watch her walk alone through a damaged and perhaps dangerous landscape.

As the music is slow, the shots are prolonged but they do nevertheless cut to a beat. The abscense of fades in between shots comes as a surprise when taking into account the pace of the song and the shots. The straight cuts to the next shot gives a sense of uncertainty and awareness, giving the impression that this landscape is not safe. As Swift walks she lip syncs to the song which shows that this is not reality and adds to the timeless enchanting mood of the music video. In all of the shots of the Civil Wars, we see the man playing the guitar, which again adds to the sense of safety in the cabin as it suggests a sing-a-long around a fire on a cold evening with a family.

This music video presents a change of image for Taylor Swift. In her other music videos she plays a modern girl, who wears makeup and modern clothes and presents modern ideas. However, in this video she is playing a timeless, nameless character as a promotion of the film The Hunger Games which also has a timeless essence about it. Swift is never portrayed as in a sexual nature in her videos but this video emphasises the character’s innocence more than her previous or preceeding videos. Although this music video is for a film, the record company are still attempting to sell Taylor Swift as an artist, with almost all of the video focusing on her. There are several close ups of her face making it recognisable to a viewer when they watch another music video she features in.

There is a notion of voyeurism in this video, however it is not intended to be a sexual display. The audience are merely watching an innocent young woman walking across a landscape and instead of being presented with an object of sexual desire, we see a traditional representation of a woman. This innocence is suggested by her white dress, bare feet and minimal make up.

The audience are also made to feel as if they are watching Swift in secret, with shots taken from behind a tree, ‘peeping’ out to see her walk past. This could also make the audience feel uneasy and uncertain, as Swift’s character does in the music video.

The music video was made for the film The Hunger Games in which selected children from ‘distrcicts’ in a distopian America fight eachother to the death, with only one winner of the ‘games’. The baron landscape seen in the music video reflects this distopian image of lonliness. This is emphasised by the destryed house she enters, inside finding a ‘mockingjay’ pin. This is another reference to the film as the pin is given to the main character suggesting that this house is where the main character of the film lived. To an audience familiar with the film, this will add the slightly morbid tone of the video.

The video is almost entirely performance based, with Swift miming as she walks across the lanscape, and the Civil Wars performing the song inside the house by the fire. However, there is a sense of a narrative as we follow Swift through the burnt out forest until she reaches a house, at which point she stops miming and looks around the house to find it deserted and destroyed on the inside.

This video is simple in style to match the slow beat of the song. The use of colour and landsacpe informs the reader of the morbid tone of the music video and the innocence of the character Taylor Swift is portraying while the intertextual references of the mockingjay pin and the burnt out landscape help to sell the film that this music video was made to acompany.

Storyboard

I will use this storyboard when filming to help guide me.

Where The Wild Roses Grow Storyboard - slideshow with music

Location and Lighting

My chosen song has a gloomy and depressive mood and so my music video has to match this. I have chosen to film in the home of a relative, whose decor is timeless which is how I want my video to come across. There is also very little variation of colour in the house, which with my lighting should add to the 'gloomy' effect. As I am using a narrative style in my video, the video must follow the lyrics of the song. The lyrics state that the man takes the woman to a river bank where he later kills her with a rock. I am lucky enough to live whithin walking distance of a riverside walk where there are plenty of ideal places to film. My only concern is London weather. If it rains, my actress will have to walk in muddy grass in a white dress, which will clearly cause problems with costume. However, much of the walk is sheltered by trees so I hope that if it rains, I will be able to work around it.

The place I plan on filming in, which is easily accessible and close to my home

 As I stated earlier, I want my music video to have a gloomy and depressive atmosphere, and therefore my lighting should reflect this. If it does happen to rain on the day I'm filming, the sky will be grey and cloudy which should mean that the natural light on the day will add to the atmosphere in the video. I will still use Red Head Lights to create shadow. If the weather is good, I will use the lights and later alter the colour of the video on Adobe After Effects. I want the whole video to have a grey tint to it.
 As well as narrative I will also have performance parts against a white background which will also be tinted grey post-production. For this I will use both red head lights, placing them diagnolly in front of the actors to ensure that they are fully lit without shadow, without having them squinting at the camera. I have chosen to film early afternoon by the river to ensure that I get the best natural light possible.

Synaesthesia Interview

In preparation for my music video I have been asking people to do a synaesthesia activity, where I ask them to list what they pictured when listening to the song and then answer questions about it. 
This interview proved that the narrative nature of my music video will be very important in the understanding of the song as without seeing it, it is difficult to do so.

Semiotics

Semiotics on Prezi

Concrete Angel by Martina McBride - Music Video Analysis

Concrete Angle by Martina McBride, is a country ballad that tells the story of a little girl who is abused at home, which is depicted in the music video, directed by Deaton Flanigen. The video was made to encourage people to report any suspicions they have of child abuse. In country songs, there are often a lot of outdoor shots in the music videos which is also see in this video and as a ballad the cuts are quite slow rather than fast paced. There is a sense of voyeurism in this video, as we watch what happens ‘behind closed doors’ and we see what happens in the private of a child abuse victim’s home.

The video is about a little girl (Angela) who is suffering abuse from her mother at home. When she is at school people notice but no one says anything and she sits on her own in the playground, isolated. Then an boy her age (who is later revealed to be an angel) sits with her and talks to her making her laugh. When she gets home that night she puts her head out the window and talks to him from the house next to hers which is dark, suggesting that no one actually lives there. Her mother sees her doing this and grabs her by her arms, shaking her violently and then pulls her to a side so all we can see is a shadow as she beats her up. The boy still looks out of his window silently crying. An ambulance then shows up and the police corner off the house. The boy is standing outside the police tape watching as the paramedics are sent into the house. At Angela’s funeral there are very few people there including the boy. He walks through the adults and joins the angel of Angela. They then both run to a group of other angel children who supposedly also died of abuse.

The use of shadow throughout all the narrative scenes emphasises the dark and depressive nature of the song’s subject, while the well-lit scenes of McBride singing (supposedly close to the grave of Angela) suggests a freedom for Angela in her death, and that she is better off as a ghost with the other victims of child abuse than alive and living with her mother. The music video is also set during autumn as can be seen from the fallen leaves in the background of all the outdoor shots, symbolising the end of life but also beauty, like Angela who is young and beautiful but has no control over when she dies.

McBride is dressed in a long dark velvet dress with long sleeves which drop at the wrist, reminiscent of the cloak of the ‘grim reaper’ (the personification of death). However, all the scenes she is in are well lit in natural light which suggests that death will bring Angela help and hope. There are many high angle shots of McBride as she lip syncs, making her personification of death appear less threatening and more caring.

The lyrics of the song directly match the video as they narrate what we are watching. Therefore, the narrative nature of the video is illustrating the lyrics of the song. The opening lyrics are ‘she walks to school with the lunch she packed’ and the video opens with a shot of Angela’s mother smoking in her room as the camera moves left into the kitchen, showing Angela opening the front door followed by a match-on-action shot as she walks through the door with her school books and paper bag with her lunch in it.

In the second half of the verse the lyrics are ‘the teacher wonders but she doesn’t ask’. A close up shot shows Angela in her classroom with dark bruises on her arm as the teacher walks past her desk. The teacher looks slows down as she sees Angela’s arm but continues to walk past without saying anything.

Although there is a clear beat to the song, the video does not cut to it. As a ballad the song is slow paced and most shots are longer than they would be in an upbeat song, with short fades in between cuts.

As the video and song are both narrative, actors are used to play out the story being told in the lyrics. Martina McBride serves merely as a narrator and so does not appear in any parts of the story. However, as the record company are looking to promote her as an artist she does appear in the video in isolated shots of her singing in a graveyard during autumn. It is very unlike any of her previous videos as has a much deeper meaning and darker tone to it.

From the third-person narrative provided by McBride we are given an insight into Angela’s life and we are able to see what the other characters like the school teacher cannot. We are able to see what happens ‘behind closed doors’ as we see the shadow of Angela’s mother beating her up after she was talking to her angel friend.

This video tells a story through the singer’s narrative, in a highly emotional style, to raise awareness of child abuse. The original music video ends with the number to call if you suspect child abuse, emphasising the theme and intent of the video. 

Imagery in my Music Video

The song I have chosen for my music video is a murder ballad about a woman who is seduced by a man. He is the first man she has ever loved and in a short space of time she comes to trust him completely. The man also loves her and thinks she is beautiful. However, he doesn't want to share or have her beauty fade, and so he kills her. 

My interpretation of the woman is of a youthful girl who innocent, pure and beautiful. To symbolise this I would dress her in white for a majority of the video. 

An example of how I would want the woman to appear

However, once she has been killed her innocence and purity is taken from her so white is no longer appropriate. Therefore, I would dress her in black to symbolise death.

This is an image of the actress I will be using and the dress I plan on her wearing to symbolise her death

As I would like to portray her as innocent I will not be using Laura Mulvey's concept of scopophilia, which has become very popular in music videos today. If I were to objectify the woman as a sexual object it would distract from the theme of her beauty and innocence.

I interpret the man to be a little bit psychotic and deceitful. Therefore, I have decided not to choose a generic 'pretty boy' that would be pleasant to look at on screen as I do not believe that type of person would fit the character in the song. To the world he appears normal and so at first when he is with the woman he will be well dressed in a buttoned up shirt and smart trousers. However, as the days progress and he starts to become paranoid, his style of dress will start to become messier. His shirt will not be buttoned properly and eventually it will be noticeably crumpled. However, he will always be wearing the same clothes to symbolise how underneath he is always the same. There is no change in character unlike with the woman.

Audience Research - Survey Monkey

Screen shot of part of the surveys the people answering the questions would see the it

I contacted people through Twitter and Facebook to fill out my survey

I have been using the online survey generator surveymonkey.com to send questions to a variety of people asking them about their opinions on music and music videos. Using social media such as Facebook and Twitter I have a wide range of age groups and music tastes to fill out my survey. I have used open, closed and probing questions in this survey. 

The questions are as follows:

1. How often does a music video determine whether you love or hate a song?

 a) Always

 b) Often

 c) Sometimes

 d) Not very often

 e) Never

2. What is your favourite genre of music and why do you enjoy it?

3. What do you prefer to see in a music video?

 a) A storyline

 b) Live performance

 c) A bit of both

4. What do you believe is the key to the success of your favourite music video?

5. Are you male or female?

 a) Male

 b) Female

6. How old are you?

 a) 10-15

 b) 16-20

 c) 21-25

 d) 26-30

 e) 31-40

 f) 41-50

 g) 51-60

 h) 61+

7. What colours would you associate with a slow song with a dark theme?

The types of people answering this survey have been very different in terms of music tastes. There have been people who like rock, other who like pop and some who like classical. They have been from many different countries such as the UK, Israel, India and Australia. I have been able to have a large range of people in terms of age filling out the survey. The only age group I have not yet had answer the survey was the 41-50. Therefore I feel that my research has been sufficient as I have many different opinions to draw from.

Answers

These answers suggest that rather than the music video influencing whether or not they like a song, it is the song that influences whether or not they like the music video.

This is just a small selection of the answers given to this question. A majority of people said pop was their favourite genre because it made them feel happy. Therefore, these people would not necessarily be target audience, given the depressing nature of the song I have chosen. The genre has a very niche audience.

 This has helped my decision to use a clear storyline in my video, with a bit of performance.

A majority of the answers in this question suggest that I use dark, natural colours such as black, browns and reds