Music Video Pitch

My group and I had to present our ideas for our music video to the rest of our peers. We did this through a pitch where we discussed the locations/settings of the video, the people that would be involved e.g MUAs, actors and the star. Also the problems we may encounter as we get closer to the production of the video and how we will overcome these problems.

Below is the PowerPoint presentation that outlines all these ideas;

Pitch Details Explained..

Location

For the location of our music video we have chosen various settings. The first we have chosen is a restaurant type setting where we will be recording the first part of the video. Also in this setting the lovers will be crossing eyes for the first time. The 'Alicia' of our video will also be playing a waitress in the restaurant. We also plan to record scenes in Westend and in Carnaby street so we can can get the bright lights in and also to allow shots of just the artist. We also plan to record particular shots of both Alicia and her male interest in a park so we have scenes of them in various locations. A scene in a studio room/bedroom will also be used as a location to shoot Alicia's male interest on his own. This particular shot will be used as the contrast shot against Alicia's when they are speaking on the phone. We used these specific locations as they follow the conventions of an Rnb music video and they are also what our target audience enjoy seeing in a music video.

Costume                                                                                                                                                  

The original video of the 'You don't know my name' song was filmed during the early 2000s. During this time artists such as Alicia, Ashanti, Janet Jackson were dressed in mild colors rather then bright. We wanted to keep this fashion trend because we are now in an age where this type of fashioned isn't as recognized as much as it was. Therefore we want to bring it back in the music video and just showcase something different to what is seen in Rnb music videos today. So in the video Alicia will be wearing brown colored clothing, flare jeans, doo rag type headscarf and will have braids to highlight the time period of fashion we are in. Whereas her male interest will be dressed in a long trench type coat, grandpa hat, big glasses to also reflect on the time period of fashion. 

Difference of pitch from mood board

The pitch showcases a different tone to the moodboard because when I created the moodboard the song I chose was different to the one presented through the pitch. As the colors on the moodboard show the song I had chosen (Alicia Keys - if I ain't got you) is full of passion, strong emotions of attachment and love and makes you connect with the artists emotions in the song. However the pitch describes a completely different song this is because my group decided to do 'You don't know my name' by Alicia keys instead of 'if ain't got you'. This is why the mood of the pitch is more saddened and peaceful as emotions are quite low because of the frustration Alicia feels from her male interest not knowing her name.

WWW

We received feedback from the rest of our classmates and there were positive and suggestions for improvement that we were given. They liked the fact that we knew the mood we wanted to set for the music video as this was reflected through the mood board. They also thought that the costume and makeup we have chosen for the individual who will play the artist was relevant to the era the song was made. 

EBI

the suggestions for improvement we received were that we should make sure the locations we plan on using to shoot the scenes were realistic and available for filming. We also got told that we need to confirm the people that will be involved in the music video and make sure they are reliable and prepared for their roles.

MoodBoard

My group and I decided that the artist we would be focusing our song choice on is Alicia Keys, because we couldn't come to an agreement of what song to do we narrowed it down to two songs. The first one was 'if i ain't got you' and the second song choice was 'you don't know my name'.

The mood board I created was based on 'if i ain't got you'. The task was to create the mood board according to how the song made you feel, the tone and mood of the song.

As the mood board shows the color dominating most is red. Red is known to connote passion, love, being bold etc. I believe that these themes are reflected throughout the song, the lyrics are passionate and emotional and the song itself is a love story. That explains the strong presence of red on the board.

The painting sort of image at the bottom of the page in the center shows a lonely woman waiting for something that is never gonna come. I intentionally chose this image because I feel that it reflects the emotion Alicia feels if she hasn't got her man. I thought it represented her lonely emotion without her man really well.
The image connoting this similar type message is the one on the bottom left which shows a  ghostly looking female, in a dull colored scenery looking isolated from the world. I chose this because I thought this also reflected what Alicia felt when she is without her lover.

However to remove from all the negative emotion I also added positive images to show what she'd feel if her and her lover were to get together. The pictures with the couple show affection, passion, care and happiness with someone. I chose these images intentionally to show what could be felt if she was to get with her lover. She would feel happiness and security.

The nature images with the flowers and plants I chose as I thought they associate with love. Lovers give flowers to their lovers. That explains the flowers being on the board. The flowers also reflect the type of location/scenery the video would take place in.

Copyright Letter

Part of our research and planning involves getting into contact with the copyright owners of the song we are using for the videos. We did this by writing a letter to the owner(s) so we could get a reply and be given permission to use the song.

Below is the letter I wrote to the owner.

                                                                                                            La Retraite RC School

                                                                                                            Atkins Road

                                                                                                            London SW12 0AB

                                                                                                            UK

745 5th Ave

New York, NY 10151

United States

Midtown West, Midtown East

17 September 2014

Dear Copyright Holder

I am an A level student and I am writing this letter to ask for your permission to use a song for my music video which I will be creating for my practical work in Media Studies. The song that I will be using for my project will be Alicia Keys, you don't know my name.

I can assure you that the music video will only be shown to my Media Studies class, my teacher and the OCR exam board. Your company and the artist herself will have an opportunity to view the final video if you wish.

If possible, could you please send me a written copyright notice to be included in my coursework portfolio?

Yours faithfully,

Joyce Masasa

Music Video Research Survey

To gain more information on target audience for our music video we created a survey with questions that would help us create a music video that is appealing to our target audience.

Here is the link to the survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2CWS9FM

By creating this survey it enabled me to gain information on my target audience as well as involve them in the process. This way when the finished music video is created it would be made to standard they expect it to be, including their preferences and maybe some unexpected elements but still within the RnB genre.

I learnt from doing this task that the majority of participants enjoyed similar things such as the music video being able to tell a story, preferably love stories. They enjoyed lip syncing within videos but to a certain extent. These preferences made me work for the benefit of the people that would be watching so I wasn't creating something simultaneously but according to the preferences of those that put their opinions forward.

However I also learnt that not everyone can be pleased one individuals preference or a group of people's preferences will always be different to those living across the street. There is only so much you can do, for this reason as well as taking into consideration the target audiences preferences, I also incorporated my own ideas and thoughts, as well as my classmates that i worked with. 

Audience Profile

 This image represents a typical member of our target audience, her clothes are in style and edgy and this is what our audience members are like as when they watch artists from our genre they also become fans and try to copy their style.

• members from our target audience would listen to RnB and Hip pop 
• on the weekends they go out for some shopping at the mall, they go to cute restaurants, sometimes concerts or even to their friends house to chill out and have a laugh
• her favourite drink is sprite  and sometimes water 
• she enjoys eating at Nandos, Chinese and McDonalds 
• her ideal partner would be Idris Elba as he is tall, dark and handsome
• her favourite sport to watch is football as it's so exciting 
• her favourite vegetable is carrots, keep the eyes healthy 
• she likes to take the train for her long journeys but sometimes takes cabs just to enjoy her own company and not that of strangers
• she lives in east London, Shoreditch area 
• for holiday she lives to visit her home country and just for having fun and relaxation she enjoys Morocco and Turkey

Music Video Research

RnB - (Rhythm and Blues)

RnB music videos vary a lot, there are major similarities between them, but there have been artists who have gone against the typical conventions that have been set. A lot of female artists do this by challenging stereotype. They'll depict themselves as men would in their videos, to convey a message to their audience.

  In these images both Ciara and Beyonce decided to portray themselves as males do in their videos, to show that there is no difference between the two genders and women are just as powerful in the industry.

RnB Music Video Settings

Locations vary depending on the mood of the song. Upbeat RnB songs are usually set on the beach or a tropical island to emphasize the happy mood of the song but to also draw attention from the the target audience into the particular artist's lifestyle. 

 Rihanna's - (If it's lovin that you want) video is a good example of this type of location use. During the course of the video you see her dancing minimally clothed on a beautiful island beach and she creates an exciting mood.

However when the song is about heartbreak or a bad relationships the set location will usually be a plain dark room which will probably have a chair or very minimal items in the room. These locations are used to evoke the dark emotions being felt by the artist in the song which the target audience is able to relate to. 

Trey songz' video for his single Can't be friends is an example of this location use, a dark room with just the use of a chair as a prop. This usually reveals the heartbreak and pain the individual is feeling and makes the audience able to connect with the artists and feel the same emotions especially if they've been through the same type of situation.

RnB music videos can also differ between the genders. The male artists are more likely to use a club setting for a fast tempo song to create a party like scene. These videos involve flashy cars,several bottles of expensive alcohol and champagne. There are close ups on the bottles sometimes for advertising purposes. Some choreography will also be involved. The males are basically showing their wealth and also portraying themselves as fun loving people.

Videos set in locations like this will include women in minimal clothing, usually short dresses and the male artists seems to always wear sunglasses, they convey a sense of coolness which their target market will find appealing.

Trey Songz - Say Aah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB5e0zHRzHc&safe=active

Both the links above show examples of these type of music video locations, there are lots of similarities including the artists wearing sunglasses, the club scene, women in short dress and the expensive bottles of alcohol.

Characters

In RnB videos characters are usually involved when there is a story being told, This happens especially in slow RnB songs. The female or male artists will have a co-star alongside them paying their male/female interest to tell the story of love, heartbreak etc. However this convention is typically found in videos by RnB males and songs that are about sex. Trey songz and Chris Brown are artists who usually use female characters to tell their stories.

Story lines

All RnB videos follow the same type of story the majority of the time. The songs are either about heartbreak, love or making up therefore the narrative is created to follow one of these or maybe something else. These story lines with males especially can be seen as similar. If you look at all the the videos I have put below they are all similar.

    Watching both these videos you can see the similarities in the story line and how it really hasn't changed. Micheal Jackson's video was created a long while ago before Neyo made his but the similarities between them are amazing. They are both following their dream girl and the dream girl is acting like she couldn't careless while still being flirtatious.

However female artists' story line may differ from the males as they usually talk about heartbreak or getting over a break sometimes being in love.

Beyonce and Rihanna's video are quite similar as their male co-stars want them back after making a mistake or supposedly cheating. They both the more superior role over the guy in both their videos and they portray themselves as strong and women that can stand on their own two feet without having to rely on a man. 

Camera angles

RnB music videos contain a varied amount of camera shots in them but the main shot used in every artists music video is a close up. Whether it be to reveal a part of the artists body for their target audience's pleasure or on the artists lips to watch them synchronize with the lyrics.  The majority of the time close ups are used to show the emotion the artist is feeling.

   

Long/wide/pan shots can all be used to show or introduce the location. Aerial shots can also be seen in Music videos especially when the artist is performing onstage, the aerial shot is able to hover around the stage from many different angles to capture what is happening.

Costumes

Males - usually topless, Trey Songz does this a lot, he wears very minimal clothing. This is because a lot of male RnB singers have a young female teenage market and this will appealing to them.

If the artist is pictured topless they are usually wearing jeans, slightly hanging low so you can see their boxers. They will also have a designer belt on which a few close ups shots will be done on as a form of advertising for that particular item.

Music Video Awards 2014

I don't think Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking ball' video deserved to win the video of the year award.
I say this because the song itself is good but the video downgraded it. For the majority of the video she was naked and swinging naked on a wrecking ball in what appeared to be a demolition site. I didn't see any reason for her to be naked as I'm sure she knows her fan base is full of young girls who look up and want to be like her.

The video is also very controversial and I think Miley intended for it to be the way it is and receive the reaction it did. I think she wants to be looked at as grown and be removed as the Disney star. The video tested the boundaries, like Madonna when she portrayed Jesus as black. She wants to be seen as different and controversial which I think she has succeeded with.

In the category she was nominated in I think Pharell's 'Happy' video should've won because it was uniquely filmed for 24 hours and for it to be edited to four minutes is amazing and I also think it should've won because the whole mood of the song matched the video which not everyone does.