Audience research Results

             

 These are the results for my survey. We found that the majority of people that answered the Survey Monkey which was 30 people chose Pop as their preferred genre of music. This is quite unsurprising because a lot of the music that is in the charts, that most people know about are the from the Pop genre, so are more mainstream. 

From question 2 i took a sample of two answers and they like music that is catchy, that they can sing along to, and also more influential artists that have got so far, and made it in the music industry. 

From question 3 we had cliché scenes, and just scenarios that are typically found in mainstream, more popular music. 

Question 4 was a general question about where people find their music. Most people are influenced by their friends to which they hear about their music which isn't surprising as most people have groups of friends because of the things they have in common- in this particular case music. Youtube wwith a close second, which is how a lot of people listen to music as opposed to finding their music on there.  

No one answered 'Always' in this question 5 part of the survey. This may have been to do with the fact that they may not have wanted us, the surveyors, to know that the only way that their music taste is there is because it is influenced by others. Sometimes was the majority answer which is also an unsurprising factor due to the fact that music is being shared everywhere, especially through the internet. There is obviously the minority that aren't influenced by others that listen to their own type of music so this shows how divided people can be when it comes to music tastes. 

Digipak 2- Analyis of Dolly Parton

One of the digipak's i have decided to analyse is of Dolly Parton's album called 'Halos and Horns'. 

Here on the right is the front cover of the cd digipak. This conforms to the country genre in many ways as the photo is natural and Dolly Parton is laying on the grass-outside which is the main convention of this particular genre. I have also decided that it is a natural pose as she has a few of her front teeth showing. This gives the audience an idea that the artists in this genre have a strong sense of freedom and are very liberated people. The style of the text is very plain yet bold and eye catching as the text is edited so that it is transparent and doesn't completely distract us from Dolly laying on the grass. Her costume is very 'western' and typical of a 'country' artist as they consistently wear denim. This shows us that it isn't all about what she looks like but how comfortable she is on the camera as someone wearing casual clothes. 

 
The back cover is the only part of the whole digipak that is completely different. This may show the buyer that she takes her music seriously, however jokey and fun she is portrayed as.The photo of her with a serious face reflects the effort she puts into playing music. It is in black and white which gives a very plain look to the image-very minimalistic. The text is in capital letter like her name and album name in the front cover so still follows that same sort of pattern. It says that it has been 'produced by dolly parton' which automatically tells us of how talented she is and how she isn't fake, all her music has come from her. There is the legal jargon- so the bar code is included and the production company.

Here is her disc.

This CD looks almost like a painting. When zoomed in, the disc looks like a canvas which  It only shows clouds within the picture which gives us the impression that the artist can be 'stuck in the clouds' which would reflect the moods that they are in. It also shows how reflective they are and how they have very strong thoughts. This is very plain and doesn't have a photo of Dolly on it so it is kept minimal which we could consider doing on our own digipaks. It matches the white text that is also kept within the chosen colour schemes which are natural colours- blue like the sky, green like the grass etc. It includes the legal jargon about how it is digital and the production company is Sanctuary Record Group. The background in this CD may also be what Dolly Parton is looking at in her front cover.

This photo is in the Inlay of the digipak.It is similar of the one in her front cover but a more zoomed out photo of her. Much like the front cover, she is laying on the grass looking very thoughtful with a subtle smile on her face which makes us think of how content she is when shes out in the countryside. The photo isn't completely straight which adds to the whole natural atmosphere.Once again she is wearing denim which conforms to the typical conventions of Country. 

This photo is very natural, she seems to be shouting out with a grin on her face- this happy emotion will reflect onto the buyer of this CD and will convey positive vibes. Although this is a 'jokey' photo there is still a little sex appeal as we see some cleavage showing. Her jacket is again conforming to the country stereotype genre however the glitzy sequins on the collar and around the edges of the jacket show a subtle integration on the Pop genre as she is seen to be more girly in this picture. There are traditional parts to this photo as it is still about the music with the guitar in her hand and she is, what looks like, on a country road out in the open. 

Rihanna- Unfaithful Micro Element

I have chosen to look at Rihanna's video 'Unfaithful' because it was made around the time when she was going thtough a bit of a Pop genre Stage.
One element that i really like is the tracking shots of hands, extreme close up of her shoulder, which shows subtle sex appeal as she is almost 'teasing' the people watching the video. 

Another micro element of the video that breaks up the video nicely is the use of slow motion. IT emphasises what Rihanna is singing and her movements too which definitely works as a song with a slower beat. 

Back up Location

If the Audley end location doesn't plan out well then we have a back up location. 

We have been given consent to be able to film at little Easton gardens. There is wonderful scenery and a great layout for the garden so if Audley end doesn't work then we have a great back up.

Here are some photos of the gardens

Costumes and Props

This is the Youtube video i have made to explain about the costumes and props that we will be using when we film our music video and Audley End. 

The Corrs- Runaway Micro Element

I came across the song called 'runaway' by The Corrs. This is a video that includes many conventions similar to the ones that we would like to include in our music video. 

The use of the woman running in slow motion is effective as it reflects the song because it is called 'runaway'. We are definitely considering using this in our song when we start filming our piece. After talking to our media teacher, we all think that it is a very good idea and it would be a strong shot. It will makes us work harder on final cut express as we will have to slow the shot down which i am really looking forward to doing. 

Also as most of our video will be filmed outside there are wonderful shots of trees and natural scenery, this helps us as to know how to film outside by trees effectively and what shots look best outside so it gives us more of an understanding about the different types of shots with is always helpful. 

Shot layout

For the first verse of our song we have sorted out roughly what we are going to shoot for each line.

 (instrumental)

The opening scene would be one of a few ideas:

-either panning across part of Audley end gardens and showing the view to give an establishing shot then across to the girl sat on a bench kicking her legs

-or the opening shot will be a girl sat on a bench or on a wall kicking her legs looking down then cutting to a mid shot of her standing-to which the instrumental stops.

I heard a story the other day,

Mid shot of her lip syncing whilst walking, possibly but always looking into the camera

A love one, 
Close up of her face looking down, then camera panning down to the flower

I got mad and i walked away,

shot of tracking the flower falling onto floor as she drops it in slow motion

Its just another one,

So i thought to myself .....WHY WHY

Sweep shot of the top of girl which then gradually goes to part of the Audley end garden.
The 'WHY WHY' part of the line is the only part that will be lip synced.

Are there so many stupid love songs 

Close up of her feet/legs whilst she is walking 

I will write the best one of all,

Long shot of girl with view of garden in background twirling around in a circle whilst singing with her head up and arms stretched out. 

And we will end this fight

Narrative of our chosen song

Tash and I have decided on our narrative that will help us in order to film our music video. We have decided on the following storyline: 

-A boy and a girl who are in a complicated love story

-In the video we portray the boy as the one chasing the girl

-The girl almost teases the boy and is made into a jokey situation as the song is upbeat.

-Girl is deep in her own thoughts and almost in her own world singing about the love of her life.

Possible shots

After looking at many different music videos based around our genre I have made a list of shots that we can consider using as they are similarly used throughout music videos from the Country and Pop genre. 

These shots are:
- Close ups of face, both lip syncing and not lip syncing. 
- Long shots of the main actress and actor
- Shots that pan outwards whilst in some sort of movement- so walking and running
- Shots from windows, these are very pensive shots and reflect the lyrics of our song so this idea and our song would go well together. 
- Shots not looking directly at camera, looking down and looking outside
- Tracking shots of the girl singing across one side to another. 
- Shot of girl out of focus then goes into focus
- Fading a person in a shot/ out of one
- Many shots of the scenery we are shooting to make it more clear to whoever's watching the sort of place they are at. 
- Sweeping shots that circle the girl around her 

Lyrical analysis

I have analysed our chosen song's lyrics 'falling hard' by Adelee and Gentry. 

Progress post

In our double period media lesson today i analysed Faith Hill's digi pack which i have uploaded onto the blog as proof of my working. We also used this time to figure out the sorts of shots we could include using. We looked at Taylor Swift's song 'Love Story' which uses a similar sort of setting to film at as we want to film outside, by Audley end house which is a castle, so using a cliche scene. We looked at cutting rates in the song and the types of shots, for example Taylor Swift uses many close ups and tracking out/into her singing outside. We will make a full list of shots to include.

Digi pack analysis 1- Shania Twain

This is my analysis of a Digi pack with the artist Faith Hill. This is very useful as i now have a better idea on what to add on our digi pack when it comes to making ours.

Email replies

For one of our chosen locations which is Audley End house we recieved a reply from Linda Dyer giving us an idea about the houses expectations and what we could potentially do/not do.

So here was our reply to this email: 

Response to my email

I have had a reply to my first email about being able to film at Audley End house. They have given me the email address of a woman called Linda Dyer who would be able to provide more information about the possibility of filming our video on Audley End's ground. 

This is my reply:

So this is my initial email to Linda and i await her email.

Some results for Audience research

During class last week each group played their chosen song for their music video and all the other students wrote down on a piece of paper their interpretations of what they think would be in the music video, if there was a music video. 

From various students these are our results as follows:

- A sunset background

- A girl in a field singing

- Someone singing about a complicated relationship, for example sees that boy around         when he's with friends. 

- Boy sees the girl but seems that he doesn't care and chooses his friends instead of that girl

- The girl is fed up about particular events in her life

- Girl wanting that boy she sings about to change

- The video not showing the boy that the girl is singing about
- when she is outside there are: autumn leaves, kicking her feet/ dangling her feet
- Autumn colours and theme for the video
- floating leavs
- The video tells a story/ has a relevant narrative
- possible shot- cross cut between indoors and outdoors so has a link between narrative and performance

My email to Audley End house

We have had some brilliant ideas about possible locations to film in and our main idea is to film at Audley End house. As it is our main possible location i have tried to get in contact with the East of England LOCAL OFFICE and i await their reply. Here is a copy of the email i sent:

Audley End house is near enough perfect for our music video as it has gardens to film in and a lot of land which is where we wan to film as being in the outdoors is a major part of our genre- being in the outdoors represents freedom.

Shania Twain

Shania Twain is a 47 year old Canadian artist that comes under the POP/ country genre. 

Shania Twain has managed to experiment within her own genre, the pop genre, both without losing the original fans who made her famous in the first place.

After looking at her videos; You're still the one, That don't impress me much, From this moment on, You've got A way and When you kiss me. 
After looking at all of these videos i noticed that Shania sings into the camera a lot and shows confidence in her songs as she looks straight at the camera so that it is more personal for the viewer to watch as it seems like she is singing to them. 


There are many crosscuts used, from either the narrative that is being played out and the lip syncing into the camera. They are subtle as they show her in different scenes but effective as they make the video more interesting to watch as there is more being shown.  
He song' That don't impress me much' uses a very extreme set of camera angles. They are either from very far angles or there are close ups onto her face especially.There are uses of cross fades which gives a smoothness and less harsh image to the video.The song 'you're still the one i want uses the extreme close ups which is the complete opposite of the song 'you don't impress me much'. It has close ups of Shania's face as she sings and the actor's body.

The mis-en-scene is very different in all of her videos. Her appearance is completely different in every single one. However she is always known in these videos to have flowy and natural hair which is one convention of mis en scene she uses as part of he look which doesn't change that often. Her outfits are very extravagant which all reflect her videos. In 'you're still the one ' she has a white floaty dress which she stands out in as it is very windy. It also stands out in the video because the video as a whole is quite dull and blue. The screen shot i have chosen is from you're still the one- it shows clearly that she has long flowy hair- a typical convention of the pop and country genre.

In her video 'any man of mine' she is uses the more tradition aspects of the Country genre however in her other songs there are quite strong influences of pop in her videos. An example is in the outfits, in the song 'that don't impress me much' she has an all leopard print outfit whilst in 'any man of mine' she has the typically washed, light coloured jeans and denim waste coat  She goes back to the routes of using props in the background such as carts, and we see tree stumps, fields and other trees outside in the background. 

Links in the Country genre

There is a clear link between all these similar artists which i have just found out. It has now become apparent to me that there is a pattern occurring within this genre.

The instrument that is typically used is a guitar which is a key element of the Country genre which i have found out in all my similar artists research. With all these artists many of their videos represent freedom and being in the great outdoors and the guitar symbolises that their music is pure and expressive. When being in the outdoors the artists tend to wear casual clothes which shows that people from the genre are very minimal and almost have a sense of being 'naturally' pretty without making too much of an effort. The makeup is normally quite basic, with, the majority of the time a smudge of clear lip gloss and some dark eye makeup. 

In the music videos there is always at least one scene of being outside and there being greenery or a field or something along those lines.

Normally within this particular genre the artists are normally individuals that have been grown up in rural areas and have had economic challenges or some sort of harder upbringing.